#were sleeping on them guyyys | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

poorlittleyaoyao · 4 months

Text

An Exhaustive Explanation For Why Qin Su Took Her Life Of Her Own Volition

(Or: For God's Sake, Please Just Let Her Have This One Thing)

Okay, so let's leave aside the fact that Wei Wuxian is an unreliable narrator. At the point in the novel at which he insists that Jin Guangyao must have forced Qin Su to kill herself somehow, Wei Wuxian has also insisted that Lan Wangji would totally hate it if he knew they'd made out while drunk. Let's also leave aside that Wei Wuxian himself will reassess his opinion of Qin Su's death later on, and IIRC says nothing about it either way in the drama, because the people who insist that JGY Definitely Killed Made Her Do That sure do. A narrator being unreliable doesn't mean we can't trust anything they tell us, after all; it just means we need to compare their views to outside evidence, the way you would with a primary source document.

AND WHEN YOU DO THAT

IT STILL MAKES ZERO SENSE

Picture all this from Jin Guangyao's standpoint. Let's assume for funsies that you don't care about your wife who is also your half-sister, and have no compunctions about killing her to keep the incest secret. Wouldn't you just... do that? Wouldn't you kill her the second that little paperman flies away and you hear the alarm?

"He obviously couldn't do that! The paperman saw her alive so it'd be weird if she suddenly was gone!" Yeah, and everyone at the cultivation conference saw her alive when they came into the treasure-and-torture room, and it would be even weirder if she suddenly stabbed herself to death in front of them.

"Ah, but he needed to know who sent her the letter! He can't afford to kill her!" Wow, hey, that's right! You, Evil Jin Guangyao, have just spent the preceding scene wheedling and then threatening Qin Su so she'll tell you who send the letter, and she stood firm the whole time! So forcing her to kill herself in front of everyone when she still hasn't told you that important piece of information would be PRETTY DUMB, wouldn't it? (Almost as dumb as giving her the opportunity to interact with all the people you're trying to keep the secret from, but hey, maybe it took you longer to hide da-ge's head than anticipated.)

"Maybe he'd given up on getting her to tell him anything so her killing herself was to divert suspicion away from him!" Okay, first of all, how is "your wife (whom nobody but you has seen recently) kills herself with no warning" going to make things look LESS suspicious? Second of all, things were going JUST FINE. You hid da-ge's head. People were buying your "this cursed cabinet is where I keep my former boss's soul-stealing knife" story. You haven't even subtly brought up Suibian to change the subject. The narrative misogyny means that nobody has directly talked to Qin Su and "of course my wife also hangs out in our house, lol" is flying just fine as an explanation. You had almost put out this fire! Why would you throw gasoline on it by making Qin Su kill herself?

Honestly, the smartest thing for you to do in this situation would be to knock your wife unconscious and move her to her sleeping chambers or a couch or something in the main part of the palace. That gets her out of sight and renders her unable to talk in a way that won't raise suspicions, and gives you the option of going "omg guyyys my wife is sleeping :( this totally unwarranted search of our home is gonna wake her up :(" to make people leave!

But, okay. Let's shift our perspectives here. Jin Guangyao has a history of making deranged choices when he's in Panic Mode. Maybe his brain short-circuited and, somehow, he decided that MAKE QIN SU KILL HERSELF IN PUBLIC was the best course of action. Wei Wuxian himself tells us that she wasn't under the influence of talismans or anything, so somehow Jin Guangyao convinced her to do this with his words. Never mind that we just saw Jin Guangyao deploy an ungodly combination of feigned ignorance, gaslighting, actual sincerity, veiled threats, and manipulation with zero impact. Somehow, he used his words successfully.

What could he possibly say?

Picture all this, now, from Qin Su's standpoint. Your entire world has been shattered. Your husband who is also your half-brother has been lying to you for your entire marriage, has done nothing to reassure you that he didn't murder your son, and has sealed your meridians to prevent you from fleeing. He then brought you into a secret room in your home that you didn't know existed and which, you discover, houses his sworn brother's severed head. All you know is that you cannot tell Jin Guangyao who gave you the letter because you're certain that he will have her killed. Shit's real fucked and you have nobody to help you.

Now every sect leader in the jianghu--including your husband's remaining sworn brother, your young nephew, and your nephew's maternal uncle--has shown up to search your husband's home. His top priority in this moment is quashing their suspicions so they leave him alone enough to regroup.

One of three things must be true for you.

1.) Your top priority is survival. You don't want to die. If you care about your reputation, you know that you're as screwed as he is if word of this gets out, and unfortunately the only way to survive is to play along with your husband's weird shit, at least for now. In that case, the best way to assure him that you're on his team is to help him assure the other sect leaders that Everything Is Normal And Fine. If you don't want to die, then you're not going to be susceptible to any insistence that you kill yourself.

2.) You're so furious that you don't care what happens to you or your reputation as long as you take Jin Guangyao down with you. In that case, you'd tell him whatever he wanted to hear and then IMMEDIATELY scream to the other sect leaders where Nie Mingjue's head is currently located, or you'd drop the incest bomb yourself hoping that the paperman is somewhere in that room and can back you up, or you'd grab that dagger and stab your husband, or some combination of all three! You're not going to quietly kill yourself at his request, because you've suffered enough for his bullshit!

"Well, maybe he didn't threaten her. She's going to be worried about Bicao and her father. Maybe he threatened one of them!" Yeah, maybe, but that's a threat to get someone to cooperate. You can't make sure they're still alive if you're dead! And if you're convinced that this guy has lied to you constantly for the past 10+ years, you're not going to believe him when he says"kill yourself and I'll be niceys to them." There is nothing at all that he could say to make her harm herself if she hadn’t been so inclined.

And that leaves

3.) You're in such despair that you actively want to die. You can never trust your husband again. You can never trust anyone again, honestly, because he wasn't the only person you loved who kept this secret from you. You don't trust that the other sect leaders will do anything to help you, just as your mother didn't trust that anyone would do anything to help her all those years ago. (When they barge into the palace and walk straight past you as though you were a piece of furniture, your distrust is confirmed.) Maybe, despite everything, you still love your husband too much to kill him. Maybe you fear that, without evidence, he will be seen as an innocent victim and you will be seen as his mad, murderous wife. Maybe you don't care what happens to anyone else, but you know that you don't want to deal with this anymore, and you are the only one you trust to help yourself escape it.

The tragedy of Qin Su is that she is never permitted to make a fully informed decision about her life. At least let her final action be something she knowingly chooses.

#qin su #jin guangyao #should be obvious but this is about novel and drama canons #in this house we do not acknowledge the donghua #mannn what if I made something with that one cassius quote. what then.#that said an IDEAL outcome would be her haunting the shit out of him and then out of everyone else bc THEY CONTRIBUTED #she's not trapped in a dagger she's having a Lucy Gray Baird moment ALEXA PLAY 'YOU CAN'T CATCH ME NOW' BY OLIVIA RODRIGO

156 notes · View notes

ghostan0n · 2 years

Text

Baby Bird

--------------------------------------

The apartment is always loud. Children running around, the parents trying to keep them calm- but tonight was different. Tommy Cara found it to be oddly quiet. Mostly because everyone aside from him was dead asleep.

Tommy hates the silence. Sure, the soft music off puts it- He can't sleep without noise- but it felt like it wasn't enough. Their apartment was decent, being middle class after all. Though Tommy and his friends came from the cold and dirty shadows of L'Manburg. Well, kinda. It was just a darker place and far less.. Safe. Not that Tommy could say this place was much better- he liked to though. "Tubbso. Boob. Wake up, c'mon guyyys." He whined a little.

"Go to fu'in bed bitchh.." Tubbo yawned, hardly awake. But Tommy felt antsy, pent up- he wants to run. Not in like- a danger way! But Tommy WAS a vigilante. Surely they wouldn't mind? Yeah, probably!

Tommy got out of bed, careful of Ranboo's stupidly long leg that was across the bed. He had to move a large box and rummage around the floor boards- past his hordes- to find the clothes. Seeing as none of them were up he just got dressed, adjusting his mask.

Wait were those footsteps-

"Papa?"

Well. Shit.

Tommy turned fast, nearly jumping out of his skin. Little avian Clementine stood in the doorway, her wings looking strange. "Yes, Clem?" He asked carefully. Clementine didn't talk often.

The girl put her arms out, wings expanding. They're small, but Tommy beamed. "Fly?" Tommy silently whooped, having a buddy for the night. "Sure Clem! C'mon- before the bitchs gets up." Tommy scooped up Clementine, rushing towards his little art studio/personal bedroom. "C'mon, here kid!" He grabbed the mask and pressed it on her little face.

Tommy opened the window, ready to go. Clementine was under his arm like a little chicken.

"Cyrus Thomas Init." Oh.

Tommy turned slowly, looking at the taller figure in the door. "Heeyyy Boob boyy.." He laughed nervously. "What ya doin, Rose?" Ranboo asked with a raised brow. Rose Disk stood with half a leg out the window.

"... A RUN-" Ranboo yelped when the moth hybrid launched out the room, using his wings. Chaotic laughter filled the mostly peaceful night as Tommy landed on a roof and ran like hell was on wheels. Clementine's wings were open wide for her wings to feel the wind. "TOMMY-" Ranboo yelled out, but groaned. What's he gonna do with that boy?

#original art #dsmp au #dsmp tommy #dsmp clementine #vigilante tommy

12 notes · View notes

owlhousefansblog · 2 years

Text

just then the front door opens and slams against the wall

YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT! *said Beta Luz gasping and full of blood on her clothes, the disguise was gone*

wow that was fast* Willow said looking at her*

THEY CHANGED THE MISSION, AGAIN! DID YOU BELIEVE IT?! *she screams closing the door*

*Beta Hunter sighs* what's this time?

we have to go work as singers on a cruise ship, our target is Mr. Smith is a double agent *said Beta Luz handing him a document*

that's so cool *Luz had said to himself*

can we help *asks Gus*

well...ig? anyway, I'm going to take a shower, tomorrow will be a long day* said Beta Luz and left the room*

we'll see tomorrow now you have to go to bed see you in the morning ok?

how many do you think we have 6? under no circumstances were we going to bed at such an early hour *said Amity with a twinkle in her eye*

Ok then, but at 3 we have to wake you up and it's 12, so do as you want, but don't get in the way of our mission tomorrow, because I don't think you want one of you to die tomorrow if our mission is discovered, right? *Beta Hunter said almost with a smile when he saw their faces*

you know what, I can sleep here np 😅 *Luz laughed nervously*

I can sleep on the floor! *offers Gus*

me on the couch! *screams Amity*

why you on the sofa?*Hunter retorts*

why NOT me and luz on the sofa? *Amity revolts back*

WHY not me and Gus on a sofa? *Hunter revolts*

Guys! Guyyys! GUYS! * Beta Hunter took out the gun and a bang was heard so strong that there was a grave silence* Good NOW I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION , 3 can sleep here and 2 with us ok?

yes

good for me

GOOD you choose I will be right back

so...*asks Willow*

after 5 minutes

ok spit it out *said Beta Hunter with a srs face*

me, luz and Hunter we are gonna sleep here, Willow with Luz and Gus with you

finnaly, good see ya tomorrow

so um..who will sleep on the couch? and who on the floor? there can only be 2 people on the couch *Amity had said referring to Hunter sleeping on the floor*

or maybe 3? *Luz thought and Amity and Hunter were staring at her* I mean if none of us wants to sleep on the floor we can share the sofa I don't mind

y-yeah SUUURR I DON'T MIND *Amity said through her teeth*

yeah...I don't think so ....*said Hunter*

GUYS I'm tired ok? and I think You are too so plz let's jut sleep alredy *Luz had complained*

she is right, get off Hunter * said Amity *

Really Blight ? She Is not wrong You know ?

Luz,who simply ignores them, pulled herself to a corner of the couch with a blanket on her and didn't make a sound*

ok just don't touch me* came Amity's voice*

#owl house #toh fanfic #viral #fanfic #viralpost #lumity

4 notes · View notes

hwrryscherry · 3 years

Text

The one where Harry and Model Y/N miss their christmas flight and have a little fun on their detour.

blurb: It's the most wonderful time of the year so Harry & Model Y/ N rented a holiday house on the French Alps to celebrate Christmas with their families. It's finally the day to go and Harry is the one to blame when they lose their flight to meet their families in the Alps. Spoiler: Model Y/N gets furious at Harry's calm behavior.

warnings: fluff. They left Los Angeles on December 20th and arrived in the Alps on December 21st in case you guyst get confused.

word count: 7.1K

author's note: HIIIIIII guyyys! It's officially CHRISTMAS week and it's my favorite holiday ever sooo I imagined what Model Y/N and Harry would do on their holiday trip and I guess I'll post a blurb everyday with Christmas theme. AND i'll be suggesting a christmas song in every blurb. Enjoy and Merry Christmas♥️♥️♥️♥️

christmas song of the day: Santa Tell Me by Ariana Grande.

December 19th, 2020 - 11PM

It was a very cold night in Los Angeles for you to be walking around in your pajamas with no shoes on, a face mask on your face and wet hair that left small water drops through the closet floor as you continued to walk between your clothes and your suitcase that was settled in the floor. You wanted to be laid down in bed, in your cozy and warm bed because you were so tired and a good night of sleep were everything you actually desired.

As you tried to decide on the coats that you were going to take to your Christmas holiday in the French Alps. You felt a gaze directed to you, what made you bring your head up so you could see Harry stopped at the door frame. He looked very calm. Otherwise, you looked desperate; your flight was scheduled to 6:45 AM. You had to sleep as it was already late and you haven't even packed your stuff but at least you could do it with just some minutes unlike Harry. Anyway, Harry had his grey sweatpants on with a TPKW merch hoddie, his hair, unlike yours, was already completely dry. You probably have to stop washing your hair so late at night but now wasn't the moment to think about this.

— God, why didn't I pack earlier? — You asked rhetorically as you sighed taking some of your favorite pants and folding them right before putting them in the suitcase.

— Exactly! I told ya to do it earlier today but you said you still had time. — Harry said on a convincing way as he drank a sip of his water that he held in a bottle. You just rolled your eyes at him. You hated being stressed and you hated even more when you were stressing over something and Harry says something like "I told you so." You hate conflict and specially when it's with Harry and now was definitely not the moment, so you just shrugged it off.

— By the way, which suitcase are you taking? Because I found yours up in the shelf. — You said, never taking your eyes away from the clothes you were putting on the floor as you created combinations and outfits for you to have an idea before putting it in the suitcase; you were on your knees as you decided to which clothes you'd take with you.

Harry went completely silent at the moment he heard you. This was the time he realized that with all the things you both were setting up for the trip today, he completely forgot of packing his stuff. Harry froze, he felt it through all his body. He knew how much you were stressed over all the things you both did today to get prepared for the trip, and he'd swear to god that you'd completely lost it at the moment he'd tell you he forgot about it.

You looked over at him because of his silence and his expression said everything his mouth didn't. You stopped moving your hands immediately and kept a straight face at him literally praying he was only joking, but he wasn't.

— Are you for real? — You'd ask resting your hands over your thighs as you only received silence as a response — Harry, I can't believe you! — You'd say sounding extremely frustrated. You'd pass your hands over your face trying to wake you up more because truly, you were so sleepy right now. You'd feel your cold hands pass through your wet strands of hair before looking at him getting more into the closet now.

— Love, I'm so sorry! — Harry'd say entering the room and bend down next to you avoiding touching your clothes on the floor — It's just... I went all the way today resolving all the other stuff for the trip and I completely forgot about it! — Harry would say with puppy eyes, he actually felt kinda ashamed for just saying to you that he told you to pack before when he didn't even remembered to do it himself.

— I know, I know — You said getting more relaxed on the floor now crossing your legs — It's just, you take so long to do it everytime and we need to grab some sleep tonight — You'd say making an emphasis on the "so long" making Harry sigh. He instantly stand up after you finished talking, walking directly towards the shelf to grab his own suitcase putting it on the floor as he opened it too.

— No, I won't take too much time! I'll just grab some stuff. I'll show you and you tell me what you think! — Harry said as he opened his part of the closet immediately looking through the pants, the many pants he had actually — It's okay! — He'd say, probably trying to convince himself more than actually you. You have no idea why but whenever Harry had to pack his suitcase he'd take hours to do it, he would just take hours to decide on each outfit and then he'd decide when to wear it and if he was actually going to wear it, so yes, it would literally take hours.

Later, Harry'd think about it all while he contemplated you from the bed. He was lying on his side, propping his head on his hand, so he could get a more proper look at you.

It took both of you two hours to pack Harry’s suitcase and it was around 1AM now. You don’t think he knows what ‘'It’ll be fast’’ actually means. You were now in front of the mirror. You used the comb to brush your now dry hair while looking in the mirror. You have had long nights at work before and you've been very tired several times but this time, it felt different.

This is the first time that you and Harry have decided what to do for Christmas and thank God there would be no hosting; but even so it's difficult to organize things for so many people. Harry has been so helpful, and you can't complain. Even though he was tired of being on set, he always donated his time to talk about Christmas, but how could he avoid it? He loved it. He loved being able to get together with his family and spend a good and happy time. Harry remembers the first Christmas you spent together. It was 2018 and you guys went to Holmes Chapel to celebrate. That was also the first Christmas of your life where you wouldn't spend it with your mother because, well, you didn't want to abuse it and take her to Anne's house. Harry realized how sad it had made you and surprised you on Christmas Eve afternoon when he came home from an alleged "supermarket drive" with your mother. He remembers how happy you were, your genuine smile that you just couldn't get off your face, and he remembers how much he fell ten times more in love with you that day. There was not even a year that you were together, god, as time flies.

You have finished brushing your hair and put the comb in the first drawer of the counter. You left the bathroom to walk to your bed feeling Harry's gaze on you making you frown and smile at him as you lay on the bed covering yourself with the covers.

— Why are you looking at me like this? — You ask taking the covers up to your neck while turning to be able to face the boy's face, who was now accompanied by a tender smile.

— Nothing much, just memories! — Harry said as he watched the yellow light from his lamp reflect in your eyes —You're so beautiful it makes me angry sometimes. — Harry said pulling a chuckle from you. God, how he loved that sound. He then extended his arm to turn off the lamp leaving the room in total darkness, then going deeper under the covers as well.

— Oh, you're just saying that! — You responded by making him chuckled now with your fake modest — You set the alarm clock, right? — You asked him softly, trying your best to keep your eyes open even though they insisted on wanting to close.

— I did! — Harry said approaching you, feeling your body heat under the covers. He brought his right hand to your waist and pulled you closer to his chest, taking the opportunity to kiss your temple. — Let's sleep now okay? I love you! — Harry said feeling you nod and whisper a soft '' I love you too ''. It was a combination of you to say you love each other every night before going to sleep; you did it even when you fought, but in these cases I love you's usually came with "but I'm really mad at you."

December 20th, 2020 — 6:00 AM.

You were in such a deep sleep, you two were. The truth is: this instability was not your thing. At one day you were in London, the next in NYC, the next in LA, then in Palm Springs and now back in Los Angeles, the hard part would believe you wouldn't be tired of it. And it's precisely because of tiredness that neither you nor Harry heard the four times that the alarm went off, but let's agree that having gone to sleep after one in the morning packing Harry's suitcase was a big factor to consider.

5:00 AM, 5:20 AM, 5:30 AM, 5:45 AM... Nothing, you didn't even move, well, you did move to pull the covers next to you. For some reason your eyes slowly opened. You stared at the light coming from the curtains content with yourself for waking up even before the clock woke up, little did you know.

You stretched and took your hands to rub your sleepy eyes then using one of them to get your phone that was powering on the nightstand next to the bed. When you unlock the phone screen and face the hours, you felt your heart beat faster. You blinked briefly to see if you were seeing the right time and got out of bed in a heart beat.

— HARRY! — You said basically screaming. Harry woke up quickly, his heart racing as he sat on the bed and watched you standing, putting on your slippers quickly. He watched you take a hair tie from the drawer of your nightstand and quickly tie your long strands of hair into a ponytail.

— What...What happened? — Harry said using his hands to rub his eyes as he slowly got up from the bed.

— It's already six in the morning, the alarm didn't go off! — You said quickly what surprised Harry, since normally you spoke even slowly — Come on, get up! We have 45 minutes to get to the airport, and it's a 35 minute drive. We need to start getting ready quickly. — You walked directly to the bathroom counter, pouring liquid facial soap into your hands and washing your face. You couldn't see it, but you heard the noise of Harry changing clothes in the room. You absolutely hated leaving the house in the morning without taking a shower, but you wouldn't have any time for that.

You chose not to wear any makeup, as always in fact. You just put sunscreen on your face and loosened your ponytail feeling your long strands of hair fall over your shoulders as you retreated from the suite bathroom and spotted Harry wearing jeans and an oversized black sweatshirt walking past you to use the bathroom himself now. You opened your part of the wardrobe by grabbing yourself a black jan bell pants, a black t-shirt too and a pink sweatshirt over it in which you dressed up fastly, and put your white sneakers as well.

— Have you finished? — You said putting your cell phone, charger, wallet and other essentials in your handbag as you approached the bathroom door observing Harry dry his hands on the towel and then saying a brief "Yes" after putting on his rings on his fingers. He turned off the bathroom light and turned to you while the two of you started walking towards the stairs, where you went down with your suitcases in hand. The original plan was to call a car to take you to the airport but clearly, there was no time for that, so you guys would go in Harry's car, which would be picked up at the airport by Jeff who had promised Harry that he would take him back to the house.

The sun was still cold, that cold early morning sun where the sky still has that lilac color mixed with orange. You left your suitcase in front of the trunk and walked to the passenger seat next to the driver where you sat down and installed the belt instantly while Harry just put both suitcases in the trunk, then closed it and walked to the front of the car as well, and right after sitting in the driver's seat putting on the seat belt, he started the engine and starting to drive as well.

The drive to the airport was quiet. There was little traffic, nothing compared to LA traffic but there was still a little. Harry prayed it didn't have any fans at the airport, not because he didn't want to see them, but because you were so late and he knew that neither of you would ignore your fans and just keep walking. When Harry parked the car, you might notice some paparazzi's outside, nothing too crowded actually. In less than two minutes, you were already out of the car with your bags on a cart walking, let's say, very quickly until the airport check-in. You were a little impatient to see that there was a line of about five people before you. You looked at the time on your cell phone and sighed, turning the screen to Harry showing that it was now 6:47 AM and there were still three more people in front of you. You had a frustrated and worried look, just the thought that maybe you can't make it to your destination and Harry realized that, he always perceives the smallest things in and about you; let it be a different sigh to a different gleam in the eye. He perceives everything, even though you're wearing a mask now.

Harry wrapped you in his arms, hugging you tight and kissing your hairline as a form of affection. Your head was between Harry’s neck where you could perfectly smell his scent, and the comforting warmth he emanated; you could have sworn that nothing and no one could get you out of that moment, but then your turn came in line and a man called you.

— Good Morning ma'am! May I help you? — The man said trying to sound sympathetic. You were hoping that Harry could resolve this but apparently, the guy asked you and not him. You put a few strands of your hair behind your ears, and you formed the phrases in your head.

— Good Morning! — You said first, feeling Harry touching the ends of your hair behing your back — So, we had two tickets for the flight of 6:45 AM for Paris but, unfortunately we couldn’t make it in time. Is there any way that you could get us new tickets? Anything would be amazing! — You said, while mentally praying that there was at least one flight that would take you there. The plan was that you were going to make a scale in Paris and then taking the train to the French Alps which would be a 5-hour train ride, but as you were counting on a direct flight to Paris, it wouldn’t be a problem to stay on a train for five hours.

— Look, ma'am. — The guy sighed looking a little frustrated. Harry touched your shoulders and squeezed a little feeling how hard your shoulders muscle were from tension — I do have a flight for Paris! — In the moment he said it you and Harry let out a deep breath relieved — But, it's going to scale in New York and London!

— And how many hours of traveling? — Harry asked getting a little closer to the counter putting his glove covered hand over the counter as well.

— Around 18 or 20 hours — The man answered and you and Harry sighed. You would be there in the morning on the LA time, and on the French Alps time it will probably be 6:30 AM too. You let out a long breath, and Harry looked at you attentively looking for any sign of giving up; he wanted to go, of course, but if you said it would be better to stay, he would be without a second thought.

— Well, we have to go, right? — You said softly to Harry and then redirected your gaze to the man and nodded. — Okay, we’ll keep the tickets.

—They’re economic tickets, all right? I see here that you had executive tickets — The man asked and you can't hesitate to drop a light chuckle.

— No problems! — Harry replied, and then he returned to finishing to configure the informations of your new tickets.

It didn't really take long, a few minutes and you already had the new tickets in hand. As you both walked to find a place to sit, you remembered that with all the running from the morning none of you had breakfast. You checked your bags on the conveyor belt and went up the escalators at the big LAX Airport looking for a small restaurant to buy something. You chose the Urth Caffé & Bar because you were used to eating in there whenever you had to travel. It was a very cute and cozy place with a yellow lighting, wood tables and chairs that gave a whole charm to it. You both ordered a coffee; you ordered a latte and Harry ordered a black coffee, and to eat you both ordered bagels sandwiches. There were some fans in there this time. They were all pretty respectful and nice when they came over asking for pictures. You both took the pics and talked with them for a while until you had to leave which honestly made your heart aches. You loved when you could meet and talk to your fans, to create that connection it's so important to you but you couldn't risk missing another flight.

As you were already settled up on your seats, you re-checked your seat bell probably five times in a row while the "In case of emergency" video passed on the little screen in front of you. Harry noticed you checking it again, and he used his hands to hold yours as a sign to stop you.

— Hey, you already did that... — Harry said looking directly into your eyes — Five times, love!

— Oh... — You whispered then redirecting yourself on your seat. The truth is, you're a model, you date a singer and you're probably more in a plane than in your own house, but you are terrified of it. You've always been, just the thought of being on a plane scares you. And we don't even have to say about whenever a turbulence would occurs. Harry knew that, and he took it as a responsibility of his to keep you calm whenever you were on a plane together.

— Oh, let's watch something together! — Harry said getting his upper body closer to you looking at your little screen — We can choose the same thing and watch it!

— Sure, something on your mind? — You asked as you grabbed the ear plunges of the plane trying to turn it on as Harry now were turning his phone off.

— I don't know! Since we finished watching Bly Manor, I have no idea what we should watch next — Harry said putting his phone on his pocket, and then grabbing himself his ear plunge.

— Oh god, and how good was it? — You said having a fan girl moment. Literally, you were such a fan of The Haunting series and all about it. You and Harry binged watching The Haunting of Bly Manor in like a day. — But.. — You turned on your screen and started to look through the christmas movies, yes you also loved them. Both of you do, who doesn't like christmas movies? — Oh, let's watch Princess Switch 2? We didn't have time to watch it! — You clicked on the movie, so you could read the synopsis to have an idea what would be about. You and Harry watched the first one back in 2018 and you guys really liked it so this could be cool. It's actually kinda crazy all of the stuffs you've watched together. It's crazy how you guys can watch a really serious and heavy movie and then watch all of Barbies movies on the same day.

— Alright, let's watch it! — Harry agreed as he searched for the movie himself — I saw in the trailer that there's a third twin on this movie.

— Love, they're not twins!— You'd say getting your movie ready to be started.

— They're not? Of course they are! If they're not, then what are they? — Harry said putting his ear plunges on and getting the covers that the airplane company use to put on the seats for the passagers. You actually think it's cute that Harry has this thing on being under the covers and cuddled up whenever he was watching to a movie, and with the weather like this, it would be perfect. I mean, it's cold in LA with 46 F°, as you lived in NYC before you could only imagine how the weather was in there with 32F°. But anyway, you kinda missed NYC a little bit. It's honestly kinda messed up now because you haven't officially moved to LA from New York, but the last time you were in NY was probably in early May, before your birthday because you both celebrated your birthday in Holmes Chapel with Anne and Gemma.

— I don't know — You'd chuckle to answer his question feeling him spread the covers on both of you and snuggle himself on your chest — I think they're relatives in some point, but they're not twins! — You'd hear a soft "oh" from Harry as you put the ear plunges yourself and clicked the movie to play. In general, you watched the movie commenting on the scenes and you both really liked it, it was funny and not tiring at all. And then after it, you both bing watched The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, I know it seems crazy but you've been so obsessed with it lately and anytime you were obsessed with something you'd usually make Harry get obsessed too. And I mean, it was a 5-hour long flight and you both could catch up with some housewives drama. The flight ended, and you both arrived in NYC, you'd have a 1 hour and a half stop and you managed to think you both could actually do something in this hour, obviously nothing to far away from the airport, you wouldn't take any risks. So you'd chose one of your favorite places in New York ever aka the M&M's Store. God, you loved this place, and you loved M&M's, and so did Harry.

There were some paparazzi on the street, but this is NY and it's just a daily basis thing. You both walked around the store buying some really cool chocolates when you saw a cute one with marshmallows and you showed it to Harry getting a disgusted face from him.

— No, I'm so allergic to marshmallow! — Harry would say grabbing some kind of M&M's to see and you rolled your eyes recalling the number of times you both had this conversation before. You turned around getting right on Harry's front and looking into his eyes.

— You’re not allergic to mashmallows! You’re allergic to one of the ingredients in it, if you do the homemade one you can eat it normally, oh my god! — You said trying your best to show your sassy side and Harry actually only continue saying this because he knows you'll react like this and he think it's cute, so he'd just get closer to your face and give a peck to your lips.

— I know, sorry! — He'd say smirking a little and fixing his beanie on his head with his left hand — I love the ones you make, by the way.

— I know, I'm such a master chef that's how I made you fall in love with me! — You'd answer him with a smirk on your face when you turn around to look more over the chocolates.

— And who said I love ye’, miss? — Harry said mocking you and you’d immediately turn to stare at his face with the most realistic offended expression you could create now.

— Um, excuse me? — You’d say with your righthand touching your chest with raised eye browns — If that’s how you feel I'm just gonna go over there look for Brad Pitt! — You’d say with your sassy tone starting to walk away from him but you were stopped by him when he grabbed your empty hand bringing you closer to him

— Oh so you're overlapping me for Brad Pitt? — Harry said making you roll your eyes with a playful smile in your mask covered lips.

— Well, take it as a revenge for overlapping me for Mitch every day! — You'd say making him let out a loud laugh — But, I'll consider letting this go if we go to Victoria Secrets right now and you buy me my favorite fragrance!

— Oh, you're such a blackmailer! — Harry would say shaking his head slowly and crossing his arms close to his body watching you put your best puppy eyes on display — Alright, just because I probably love that fragrance more than you! — He said making you give him a big smile that he could notice by the way your eyes got smaller. This is actually a joke because it was pretty rare for having you ask Harry to buy you anything, you'd always tell him that you "didn't need anything", and specially when he comes home with those really expensive Gucci merch. Honestly, all the expensive things that you have, like, Chanel, Versace, Gucci were usually gifts from the brand and a few from Harry because you're much of a economizer thinking that these are actually pretty expensive things and you don't actually need. Why would you go around with a 3 thousand dollars Gucci bag when you can buy a super cute bag for 50 dollars? Yep, Harry didn't understand that on the many times he got you something expensive so then, now he rarely does it because he knows that the way for your heart it's probably the most simple and genuine he can be.

In the VS shop, you were looking through the fragrances for you favorite one that was Bare Vanilla, it's probably the best. And you've been using it for years now, literally since you were a teenager. When you finally found your Bare Vanilla Kit, you were actually surprised by Harry behind you holding a set of lingerie on the color of pearl with some baby blue lace details. You looked at it and then later at the lingerie and then at him again with a "what is that?" expression on your face.

— Love, I know ye' came here to buy the fragrance but this would look so good in you! — Harry said making a louder voice while pronouncing the "so good" making you touch the fabric with your hands in silence thinking about it as you looked, yes it was really pretty. What can you do? Your man does have a good taste. — Ok I'll buy it as your christmas gift! — You said taking the lingerie carefully from his hand.

— For me? I was thinking more of you in it, but I can wear it if you want. I bet it will define all of my sexy curves — Harry said putting a hand on his own waist making a pose making you laugh out loud of his words, it's the sass for me.

— No, oh my god! I'll be the present. This could be the gift paper — You'd say winking on an eye at him as you tried to control your laugh seeing the smirk on his face, this little promiscuous guy.

On your way back to the airport you noticed very similar words on a wall beside you and you couldn't hold your emotion when you saw it. It was a black wall written "Do You Know Who You Are?", as in Lights Up. When you showed Harry he got so smiley and blushed at the same time, it's just the shyness in him. You took a quick picture of it before actually entering the airport again. Right on time.

You were about to face another flight with a six hour and 40 minutes of duration and god, in this cold weather, with covers, hoddies, M&M's, movies and your love made everywhere feels cozy and warm. On this flight, you agreed to watch The Notebook with Harry, and you liked it very much, not as much as he did, but you liked it. You had taken your sneakers off staying with your socks only, you had also let your hair loose as you leaned your head on Harry's shoulder this time, fixing your covered legs under the cover and feeling the warm sensation coming from his body heat, it wasn't much until Harry realised that you were completely asleep when he tried to talk to you about how Ellie's mom had such an attitude when she decided to hide Noah's letter from Ellie all those years but instead, he saw your sleeping face on his shoulder and his heart melted at the vision so he just decided to let you sleep because he really thought you deserved to, and also, after the movie ended he did sleep as well.

Your flight arrived in London by 7:28 PM on Los Angeles time. By London's time it was already 5:28 AM, and it had a 44 F° weather. You had a smaller scale time this time. It was a 35 minutes scale, thank god. You both took your time to walk inside the airport. You loved London. You really did. You loved the weather and the beautiful places to visit in here, oh and the cute british accents, you loved it.

You both walked through the airport observing everything. The people, the christmas lights and the stores. Harry had one of his arms over your shoulders as you walked through it. As you entered the stores session, you'd spot World Duty Free store and look at Harry. — Let's go to World Duty Free and buy colorful highlighters so you can use it on christmas eve! — You say while stopped walking when you got in front of the referred store. Harry looked at the big illuminated sign with the store's name and then back at you.

— A colorful one? D' you think it'll look good? Maybe a gold one, no? — He said pushing you into the illuminated store. You loved that Harry knew this stuff and how sometimes when you'd have nothing to do he would let you put some makeup on his face because he knew you didn't like putting it on your face often.

— Yeah, a gold one would be better! I'll go find one, try looking for other stuff — You'd say getting out of his embrace and walking to the other corner of the store. You looked through the makeup wall in front of you as you searched for a gold highlight.

— Hello, may I help you? — A very young lady came to you with the store's uniform. You looked at her smiling tenderly and shook your head. — Oh no, thank you! I was just looking for a highlighter, but I already found it! — You said showing her the little package in your hand and she smiled back at you saying that if you needed anything else you could call her and you thanked. You would keep looking through the wall to see if you wanted anything else when you noticed a tall man coming over you. You looked at him because well, he was staring you.

— Hm... Hi, I'm Ryan! — He said shyly to you. You just stayed there looking at him with no moves — Hm, I just wanted to say that your American accent it's really cute and... Would you mind giving me your number? — He'd say nervously, and you let out a chuckle as you closed your eyes for a moment.

— I’m really flattered, but I’m here with my boyfriend, I’m sorry — You said softly as you could see Harry coming over to you guys with a very straight face. — There he is! — You pointed at Harry that quickened his pace a little when he saw you pointing at him.

— Oh, I apologize! Anyway, merry christmas! — He said with a tender smile as he walked away from you when you murmured a "Merry Christmas". Harry finally got to you and frowned his eyebrows a little looking at the guy’s back and then back at you.

— Who was it? — Harry softly asked containing his jealousy. Whenever Harry would say in interviews that he was an easily jealous person, he wasn’t joking. But he learned to contain it now because this was the biggest discussion maker on the beginning of your relationship.

— It was this guy Ryan trying to hit on me — You’d say with a smirk on your face because you knew this would tease him — He politely asked me for my number, and then I told him that I was here with my boyfriend.

—You should’ve told him you were here with your handsome and sexy boyfriend — Harry said with joking tone and you raised your eyebrows at him as you started to walk towards the cashier.

— No, I think just ''boyfriend'', is enough! — You’d say mocking him before you paid your bill. And walked back to the departuring space for Paris.

You confess that coming back to Paris made you a little nervous. The last time you were here was in February and it was quite...peculiar. But it would be just a scale and things would occur right.

The flight for Paris were definetely the the fastest one as it lasted only an hour and fifteen minutes. You both had dinner in the plane while binge watching The Real Housewives of Bervely Hills, a little obssesed maybe? Harry had already warned Anne about both of you being late as you all scheduled to get there maybe 6 or 7 hours ago, but as the iconic Queen of Genovia said once ‘’A queen is never late, anybody else is just earlier’’. Oh, you both could’ve watched The Princess Diaries today, damn it.

— As we’re here, we have to admit it... It was quite an adventure, wasn’t it? Three cities in a day — Harry would say taking the ends of your hair between his fingers.

— It was, but I kinda wished we had a little bit more of time in London so we could go to the London Eye — You’d say causing Harry to happily agree with you as it was one of his favorite attractions to go in London.

— All I know is that when we get in there I’ll sleep for as long as I can.

— How can ye’ be sleepy? You slept all the flight from New York to London and I know it! — You’d ask really curiously about his answer because it actually made you surprised on how easily he could sleep. He could be sitting on the most uncomfortable chair in the world but if he closes his eyes, he’ll easily fall asleep.

— It’s my natural talent! Did you think that I could only sing? — He asked rhetorically with a very convincin' tone.

— I’m sorry then Mr.Sleepy! — You would say mocking him as you turned your phone on to answer your missed texts. Gemma has already sent you tons of texts about the house and how’s the climate in there. She told you that you both better be all wrapped up or instead she’ll push your face, oh the good old family love.

When the plane landed, you and Harry grabbed your suitcases as fast as you could so you could get a cab to the train station and finally arrive on the Alps. You loved Paris in the winter. You loved Paris by the night, and that hasn’t changed. There weren’t paparazzi which contributed to keep you calm but there were maybe some fans spotting you guys and asking for pictures. They’d ask if you both were going to celebrate Christmas in Paris and you’d tell them that it’s just a scale. You were calm but Harry wasn’t. Since the prank in Paris from February, Harry has been incredibly more protective than he already was, and getting back in Paris actually remembered him of that night and that he wouldn’t let it happen again.

But it all turned out good, the train ride actually felt so relaxing and that made you wonder why in the world none of you have ever traveled together by train. Neither of you slept, though, you both talked. Talked for hours nonstop. You talked about your jobs, your experiences, what you like and what you don’t. You talked about what you wished for 2021 and you even chuckled a bit when Harry said he was looking foward to put ring on your finger in 2021; bullshit, you'd think. But anyway, you'd talk on how in some way you both were grateful for having each other during the hard times we’re all living, getting to know each other better while there was nobody on the streets because actually, if the world was ending you both wouldn’t want to spend it anywhere else and with anyone else.

The train ride was so calm, so great, so both of you. You were not the kind of couple that needed all luxury, that needed to go out every weekend to have dinner on a fancy restaurant, that needed to buy each other expensive gifts and needed to share every detail of what you did. You were simple. You were comfortable discovering a new world and experiencing things together on your own way and your own time. Neither of you needed all of those stuff. You only needed each other. You needed to feel the warm of each others body, you needed to be graced by the sound of each others laugh and voice, you needed to see the smile on each others faces and to know that even when times get hard you’d always have each other. Your relationship wasn’t perfect, none are. But in the end of the day love always win and if you love each other and it’s meant to be the rest will be history.

As the sun was starting to rise, you leaned your back in Harry’s chest so you could both see the view from the big glass window. You had your hair loosened on his chest as he envolved you on his arms hugging you from behind supporting his chin by the top of your head. The light yellow sun made the snow even whiter and more resuscitating by touching it with its rays. The sky had this lilac and orange colors, and it seemed to have a breeze air, you couldn’t confirm it though as the train was warmed by a heater. You’d start murmuring to the song Turning Page by Sleeping at Last which caused Harry to smile tenderly. He knew you were doing it by a reflex and actually didn’t think he was going to listen to it, but he did. And he smiled because this had been you guys song for almost three years now.

—Your love’s my turning page, where only the sweetest words remain — Harry would start singing really close to your ears. Really close and really softly, causing you to smile now but never taking your eyes of the view of the window — Every kiss is a cursive line. Every touch is a redefining place — You’d close your eyes caressing his arm around you and then opening your eyes again, messing with his rings that covered the fingers on his strong hands.

— I surrender who I’ve been, for who you are — You’d complement the song lycris with your eyes closed, feeling nothing more than peace.

— For nothing makes me stronger than your fragile heart — Harry kept singing holding you tight, because he never would want to let you slip away of his embrace — If I had only felt how it feels to be yours, I would’ve known what I’ve been living for.

— What I’ve been living for! — You complemented. There’s no other place either of you would want to be now. Of course this wasn’t the trip that you both planned, but it was better. It was different, funny and relaxing, and that’s the one thing for you.

You both got out of that train feeling nothing more than peace, and that’s the spirit of the holidays, isn’t it? The cold sharp of air hitted your face immidietely and you both rushed to get a car that could take you to the holiday house. Gemma would probably kills both of you for not being properly wrapped up but she actually didn’t, thank god for her to be sleeping.

When you both arrived at the house you struggled a bit to unlock it with the keys but it worked and you came across a beautiful Christmas decoration with a huge christmas tree with a lot of lights and some other cute decorations too. It almost felt like North Pole but it would probably be ten times colder than it was here. You both left your bags on the living room floor and went to take a small tour on the house, when you arrived at the kitchen there were a plate full of brownies and a small note.

Harry & Y/N,

we couldn’t wait for you to arrive because we were so sleepy but we did those brownies for you guys. Eat it, you must be hungry! We love you and we're looking foward to see you in the morning

— love, Anne.

— Your mother is the best person on the entire universe! — You’d say showing the note to Harry and grabbing yourself a piece of brownie as he took the small paper on his hands to read it himself as you took a bite from one brownie— And those brownies are the best thing I’ve ever eaten.

TO BE CONTINUED.... Christmas special part 1

#harry and y/n #harry styles and y/n #HARRYxMODELY/N #HARRYxMODELY/NxCHRISTMAS #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry x reader #harry styles x you #harry styles x reader

118 notes · View notes

omgrachwrites · 4 years

Text

May Queen (Loki Laufeyson)

Summary: Astrid, the princess of Vanaheimr relocates to Asgard to seal a betrothal to the youngest prince and an attempt to escape unforeseen forces. She soon finds happiness and a multitude of new friends. Unfortunately treachery and deceit lie in the court of Asgard in unlikely places, and she learns that true love never dies.

Warnings: angst, mentions of death, fluff if you squint

Words: 2100

A/N: Guyyys! I know you’re getting tired of hearing this but I’m so sorry!! I was going through a hugee dillemma but everything is all good now! I’m actually thinking about rewriting the summary because I seem to have gone on a bit of a tangent! Hope you guys enjoy, please let me know what you think, if you want to be tagged just shoot me an ask/message, I love you all very much!! xxx

Part Seven - Revelations

The door to Mara’s chambers slammed open, causing the girl at the window to jump and cease in her writings and she glanced up away from the parchment, the quill producing a scarlet drop of ink on the thick wad of parchment. She looked up at the young prince who had a face like thunder, his eyes were wide and they had red marks just below them, his face was deathly pale. It looked like he hadn’t slept for days.

“I was under the illusion that you were a gentleman Loki. Aren’t gentlemen supposed to knock?” Mara questioned, tilting her head to the side innocently.

“Don’t bloody test me Mara!” he hissed furiously, “are you mad? Attempting to poison Astrid right underneath her mother’s nose?”

“I didn’t try to poison her,” she shrugged, “though I wish I had,” she muttered underneath her breath.

“It had to be you! You’re the only one who wants her dead!”

Mara let out a shrill mirthless laugh, “clearly not, clearly someone else has got it in for her and to be honest my dear, I can hardly blame them.”

She stood from where she was sitting by the window and walked towards him, going to cup his handsome face. Loki flinched away, fury blazing in his cold icy eyes and Mara swore that there was another emotion residing in those depths, perhaps it was hate.

“I don’t want to do this anymore,” he whispered and a feeling like that of a knife shot through Mara’s chest, right through her heart.

“I didn’t try and poison her Loki; you have to believe me, please. The guards searched this room,” she gestured at the small room, “they found nothing.”

The palace guards were in the process of searching every possible chamber for any shred of evidence relating to the attempted assassination of the princess.

“Why can’t you do this anymore? You knew what we had to do right from the beginning. Are you getting cold feet? Is it because she’s beautiful?”

Loki’s eyes found the floor when she asked that question.

“Take heed darling, the beautiful flowers are the most poisonous ones. Trying to love her will be your undoing, her father obviously learned that when he died.”

Loki scoffed in apparent disbelief at her words but she knew that she was right, if the prince wasn’t careful he’d be dragged down to his doom right alongside Astrid, “yeah, we’ll see,” Loki narrowed his eyes and turned to leave, stopping short when Mara started speaking again.

“I thought that you loved me, you said that you did, you swore it! I didn’t think that you’d lie to me, please Loki. We’ve known each other since we were children, we’ve got a history, don’t throw that all away.”

“I did love you, truly I did,” Loki started, keeping his back to her, his chest hurting. Mara had been so kind and perfect but she’d turned into a monster. A monster that he couldn’t slay, “but Astrid is different, she’s kind and gracious and beautiful. She’s everything that a princess should be. I’m not against marrying her anymore.”

“Or loving her it seems,” Mara sighed sadly.

“Tell me, how much is a prince’s soul worth?” Loki dreaded the answer but he had to know.

“A lot less than a princess’, don’t think that I didn’t consider it. I don’t want to lie to you.”

Loki said nothing but turned his head to look at her with a stare so venomous that it made Mara’s blood run icy cold, she was surprised that she didn’t turn into stone right there and then. His eyes almost looked red. He left without another word, slamming the door to the room fiercely as he went. A feeling of overwhelming sadness washed over Mara, filling her entire being. Though, she couldn’t cry. Even though her eyes were heavy and there was a lump in her throat the tears simply wouldn’t come.

It would be a lot easier if she didn’t love Loki, a prince’s soul meant less to the fairy council than a princess’ but it would still restore her world and family. Even in the days that had passed when she had seen Loki leave lingering touches on Astrid’s waist and kisses on her cheek – that made the princess blush scarlet – Mara had been so heartbroken that she wanted to make Loki pay. In reality, she’d never be able to carry out her wishes. She could never kill the man that she loved even though he continued to kill her over and over.

Mara sighed and resigned to finishing her letter, wincing every time she made a scarlet ink splotch, it was hard for her to write beautifully but she must try. It had to be a perfect match. She sealed the letter with the seal that she had stolen and she made her way to where the letter needed to end up, along with the phial. It was difficult to go about without being seen because it seemed that the entire palace was on high alert. Though, somehow she managed it.

Later on, the princess returned back to her chambers, her hair was unkempt and tangled and she looked extremely tired. In truth, without the small amount of product that Astrid usually put on her skin she was actually very plain in Mara’s opinion, she didn’t look much like a princess anymore. She smiled tiredly at Mara and got into bed, pulling Mara with her to rest her head on Mara’s shoulder and like a dutiful handmaiden Mara wrapped an arm around her.

“How did it go?” she asked and Astrid sniffled and shook her head.

“The guards didn’t find anything,” she stammered, “they checked all the servants’ quarters and found nothing. I’m scared that someone wants me dead, no one knew that I was having a taster at the feast, I was the clear target,” she shivered in fear.

“It’s going to be okay,” Mara cooed, stroking Astrid’s hair as she fought the urge to roll her eyes, “I’m almost certain that they’ll find something soon enough,” Astrid sniffled and nodded in response.

After a while, the princes dropped into a restless slumber fraught with nightmares and Mara contemplated the fact that it’d be so easy to kill Astrid in her sleep. She could make it look like a tragic accident. On the other hand, Mara wanted to enjoy the assassination of the princes. She wanted Astrid to suffer. She deserved that much.

---------------------------------------------

Astrid smiled just a little as Loki took her hand in his, she didn’t even mind that his hands were cold because the kiss that he dropped on the top of her hand was as warm as the summer sun. She could tell that something was bothering him but she didn’t want him to feel like she was prying. Loki gave her a dimpled smile as they walked down the lengthy corridor towards the throne room.

“How are you feeling, considering everything that’s happened?” he asked, Astrid didn’t want to tell him the whole truth. It felt like it would make it all real if she said it out loud and she was still hoping that all of this was a very bad dream. But Loki’s question and concern sounded so sincere.

“I’m confused and scared,” she admitted, refusing to look at him, “I didn’t do anything wrong, who would want to kill me?”

“Astrid,” Loki said softly, resting his hand on her lower back and he stopped in the hallway. Astrid chewed her lip and looked up at him as he cupped her cheeks, “this is not your fault, you didn’t do anything wrong and you definitely don’t deserve this. You’re everything a princess should be. Whoever is doing this to you is quite clearly mad and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure they don’t hurt you.”

Astrid teared up slightly as he finished his little speech. For the first time she felt safe by his side. Loki leaned down towards her and brushed his lips against hers very softly and reassuringly before pulling away.

“Ready princess?”

Astrid sighed and bit her lip, “no, I’m not but let’s not keep them waiting,” she took a deep breath and placed her hand in Loki’s outstretched hand and they strolled into the throne room together to hopefully find out who wanted Astrid dead.

There had been a buzz and a murmur echoing in the splendid room which fell silent when the reigning princess made her presence known, it seemed like the entire royal court had turned up today. Everybody’s eyes landed on Astrid and she could see the sympathy in their faces, she didn’t want their sympathy, it couldn’t help her through the hardship she was currently facing.

Arna, Erik’s wife – Erik was the knight that Astrid had loved, years ago it seemed now – rushed forward and embraced Astrid like a sister, murmuring words of comfort but Astrid hardly heard her. She smiled weakly at Arna as the Queen stood gracefully from her gilded throne and almost glided over to her daughter.

“The healer has just finished his examination of the body,” her mother started, “it seemed like your taster died from Wraith venom, and what’s more I know who made it and sold it.”

Astrid didn’t know much about Wraith venom, only that it was highly illegal, “mother, how?” she trailed off, sharing worried glances with Loki.

“Everybody’s work is slightly unique, your father was a budding alchemist, he frequented the shop that it was bought in, and I recognise the work. He’ll be here soon.”

Astrid nodded as she and Loki made the way up the stairs to take their seats just beneath the Queen’s throne and they waited. As the shopkeeper was brought in he was beside himself in near hysterics but he admitted to everything, apologising over and over. He swore that he had no idea that his work would be used against the royal family. His questioning passed in a sort of blur for Astrid but she gave it her full attention when the alchemist was asked for details about the customer who bought the poison from him.

“I couldn’t see much of her features Your Grace but it was definitely a woman, she never put her hood down but I could see her eyes and the strands of her hair. Bright emerald eyes, outlined with a blue so dark it was almost black and brown, maybe auburn hair. I wish that I could help but I couldn’t see her face really. Her voice though, it sounded like she was singing as she spoke, I believe that I would recognise it if I heard it again. Her cloak was very fine; she didn’t reside in the town.”

Astrid frowned, this was her life at stake and she was annoyed that the shopkeeper’s description would hardly help the guards catch the culprit, “what kind of cloak was it? Were there any features of it that stood out?”

The shopkeeper took a deep breath and squinted as he reached into the depths of his mind to extract the memories, Astrid was waiting with bated breath.

“It was a very thick forest green cloak with flower embellishments embroided into the stitching, a very fine rich cloak,” at his words Astrid got yet again annoyed and tensed up, relaxing when she felt Loki link his fingers through hers. She got so annoyed because virtually every woman at court had one, Astrid even owned one.

“There was a precious gemstone at the neck of the cloak also,” that was less common, only a few ladies had stones set into their cloaks and if they did have one it was always set in yellow gold, “it was a topaz set in white gold.”

The throne room rang with a couple of gasps as Astrid looked at Loki with a shocked look on her face but he wasn’t looking at her, he was looking across the room with a strange look on his face, it was almost like it was a mixture of confusion and anger. It was getting slightly hard for Astrid to breath. She had to concentrate on the feeling of Loki’s hand in hers. Everybody knew who that cloak belonged to.

As if right on cue, the palace guards entered from the rear door, they had the cloak in question, an empty phial and a thick wad of parchment with a scarlet wax seal that had been broken.

“Arrest her,” the Captain of the guards muttered, “this letter is basically her confession.”

---------------------------------------------

@theonelittleone @void-imaginations

19 notes · View notes

lemonsandstrawberries · 5 years

Text

A Piece of Cake for Everyone

fandom: Stony (Steve x Tony), Avengers

summary: Steve wakes up alone on his birthday, knowing that Tony planned something, but not knowing what exactly.

length: 1 517 words

a/n: Happy 101st Birthday, Steve! I am just taking from Avengers: Endgame what I want and ignoring the rest ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

—————

A Piece of Cake for Everyone

On his one hundred and first birthday, Steve woke up alone in bed.

It was surprising because Tony rarely woke up before him on regular days (not counting the nights when Tony kept working up late and never stepped into their bedroom, and Steve walked into a very sleep deprived Tony, fumbling around in the kitchen and looking for coffee, more or less at the same hour Steve had a before training snack) while today wasn't a regular day. Steve expected something to happen. He couldn't point exactly what, because Tony had some crazy ideas, but he definitely didn't expect to wake up on his own will, and not by, let's say, a piece of birthday cake thrown into his face.

Experimentally, Steve rolled to the side of the bed Tony usually slept on and ran his hands over the smooth covers, looking for familiar warmth that wasn't there. Seemed that Tony left the bed a long time ago. Blowing a puff of air out, Steve rolled on his back, contemplating the ceiling with a frown. He didn't expect anything grand because of his birthday, but being woken up with a good morning-happy birthday kiss would be nice. Maybe Tony was waiting for him in the kitchen, burning bacon and toasts, but miraculously, being quite decent at omelet making and Steve could eat an omelet. With a yawn, Steve sat up and stretched, deciding that it was enough of moping in bed. Before he could fully get up, his eyes finally caught a sight of a folded note, standing on the top of his night table and a smile immediately showed on his face, when he saw his name written in the angular, quite chaotic print in red marker. Steve opened the note, his smile growing at the small Captain America shield and an arc reactor drawn in the lower right corner of the note and some scribbled balloons and fireworks showing here and there on the white paper.

'Steve, come to the sunroof when you wake up. Wear pants. From You Know Who I Am.'

Some serene, loving feeling came over him after reading the short note. Yeah, he knew from who it was. Although, the 'wear pants' clearly excluded the good morning-happy birthday sex Steve might have had also in mind and was looking forward to happen, after, of course, the good morning-happy birthday kiss he still didn't get. He almost put the note back, when noticed another message written on the back.

'It was from Tony. Just in case.'

Steve laughed and pressed the note to his face.

It didn't take long for Steve to finish his morning routine and change pajamas for a pair of comfortable slacks and a short sleeve shirt. He skipped breakfast and just sipped some orange juice straight from the fridge, before leaving. Sunroof, huh? Some romantic, late breakfast just for the two of them would be a great beginning of the day.

Turned out that it wasn't just the two of them.

"Oh, he's here!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

An overwhelming yell erupted from everyone's throat and pierced right through Steve's sensitive eardrums, making him stumble back and almost falling down the stairs. There was a handful of confetti thrown into his face, and Steve blinked rapidly, protecting his eyes.

"What the-" Steve rubbed his face, trying to see what was going on and once his eyes focused, he smiled broadly. The whole sunroof was set for one of the biggest 4th of July barbecue parties Steve ever saw. There were already four grills working, filled with various meat and veggies, a long table set with colorful drinks and refreshments. Colorful deck chairs and bean bags were all over the place, small tables placed among them. And balloons. So many balloons, swaying gently and attached to every surface, almost threatening to lift the compound into the air. And his team, all over the sunroof, cheering and waving to him.

"Wow, guys," Steve started, entering the chaos, a smile not leaving his face. "Everything looks great!" he gave his honest opinion. "I really didn't expect this," he said. He really didn't. At least not yet. Usually, he and Tony spent the morning together, quietly and privately, before celebrating with the whole team in the afternoon and evening, among grilled meat and corn on the cob and potato salad and fireworks. "Uh… Why are we doing this now?" Steve asked, hoping he won't sound ungrateful.

"Ha! You turned one hundred one years old! You don't have much time left!" Sam called, turning the meat on the grill and making it sizzle.

"Happy birthday, you old fossil!" Natasha called happily from her bean bag.

"Hey, Steve! Smithsonian called!"

"Hope you won't turn into dust before sunset!"

Steve rolled his eyes dramatically but listened with a patient smile. The friendly jabs would continue if it wasn't for one voice.

"Damn, I hope he won't, we still have plans."

Steve whipped around so fast, his neck snapped painfully. Of course, he loved his friends, but there was one person he wanted to see more than others.

"Tony!"

"Hi, baby," Tony smiled, walking to Steve and standing on his tiptoes to press a kiss into his cheek. "Happy birthday."

"Ow, that was cold!"

"Kiss him properly!"

"Yeah, don't be shy!"

"Hey, I am saving better for later, alright?!" Tony called, soothing the crowd. After years of various team members walking up on Tony and Steve during their more intimate moments, it was a nice change to be encouraged to show more affection. Even if it was more of a tease than genuine concern. "Speaking of better, how about a piece of birthday cake for breakfast?" Tony asked, turning back to Steve.

"Sure," Steve nodded, and wrapped an arm around his husband, hearing the approval coming from the team. They walked together to a table, where Wanda and Vision just placed the cake down, still in the box.

"There are no candles. We couldn't find that many," Clint hummed, sipping some colorful drink through a straw.

"Come on, open it," Tony urged, squeezing Steve's waist.

During his time as an Avenger, Steve had a share of birthday cakes. His ultimate favorite one was a white sponge with vanilla frosting and fresh berries, classical, simple and absolutely delicious. The hamburger cake, which was a cake covered in colorful fondant to resemble a burger, he received one year was fun too. Yet, when he opened the box and took the lid off, he felt his mouth opening and color draining out of his face.

It was a cake in a shape of a butt. There was a blue thong in the middle made out of icing, some small, yellow stars placed on top of it. On the left side in cursive was written 'America's ass' and on the right 'Happy Birthday, Steve!' and a red mark of kissy lips in fondant. Steve had a feeling he knew those lips.

"And it's shaped after the real thing too!" Tony called loudly enough for everyone to hear and smacked Steve's bottom playfully.

There was laughter around him and Steve kept staring at the cake, not knowing what to think of it. Should he be offended? It felt like something he should be offended about. But… He knew those people for nearly a decade. Those where his friends and family. People he trusted the most in the world. People he could always turn to whenever he had a problem and was never rejected. They fought side by side with and maybe he wasn't blood-related to any of them, but there was some strong bond between connecting them all. Stronger than Steve could put into words. And, in some crass, twisted way, the cake was kinda funny.

"Guyyys," Steve choked out in laughter, covering eyes with one hand. "You've got to be shitting me."

More laughter.

"That's an unfortunate choice of words!"

"Cut the cake, Steve!"

"Hold on, who said any of you can get it?!" Tony called, "after all, it is my husband's ass, it is basically my property."

There was a lot of hissing and booing.

"It belongs to America! It is a national treasure!"

"Steve, your opinion?"

Steve looked among the crowd. His original team, the new Avengers, shared friends of his and Tony's. Knowing that they all were here for him, was warming up his heart.

"Sure, let's cut it!" Steve decided, hearing a cheer. "America's ass for all!"

As the cake was being sliced and passed to everyone, turning out to be filled with ice-cream, yum, Tony and Steve shared a slice and then shared a sweet kiss, before diving back into the party.

Tony watched Steve mingling with everyone, laughing with Bucky and Sam, and gobbling up chicken wings as if racing Thor who would eat more. Honestly, he didn't mind sharing the cake with everyone, as long as in the evening, the real thing would be all his to enjoy. And when Steve caught him looking at him, and sent him a bright and happy smile, Tony smiled back, already knowing their plans for the evening.

#stony #steve rogers #tony stark #superhusbands #stevetony #fanfic #fanfiction #Happy Birthday!!#no tickling

96 notes · View notes

kirawritesaboutevanstan · 6 years

Text

The anchor in their lives - Chapter two

Summary: When two super soldiers lives get turned upside down, they move into an apartment in Brooklyn, trying to deal with their past and figure out their futures. So what happens when the apartment next door gets a new resident, one who has the potential to change their lives in ways they could never imagine. The question is; Will they let her?

Pairings: Stucky x Original Character Annie (eventually ) SOON GUYS

Disclaimer: This story may contain strong language, polyamorous relationships (eventually + sex ), mental health talks( anxiety, depression, PTSD and so on. If you’re not comfortable with any of those, you might not want to begin reading this series.

As always thanks to the wonderfully sweet @holland-stan-posts for all your help with piecing this story together, and of course your neverending support. You’re a babe x

Interested in reading more of my stories? Well, you can find them right here.

Looking for the masterlist for this series? Well, look no further. It's right here.

Warnings: Mentions of Bucky’s past and anxiety.

A/N: Chapter two! HERE WE GO GUYYYS.

Got a brand new laptop so hopefully, it won’t die on me. It’s very pretty and cool. Anyways, I'm still very excited about this series and I like this chapter personally. Hope you guys like it, and I promise Annie will show up soon!

Previously...

Chapter two:

BUCKY'S POV

Waking up each morning to the noises outside his window was something he never got used to. The constant buzzing from the cars, the occasional honks. People were yelling and laughing. Planes from above shaking the ground a little as it flies over the roof, or at least he felt like the ground shook. It was all so overwhelming. Although he had lived in this world for over 70 years seeing it change from his prison, he never got the chance to get comfortable with any of it; he was too busy being used as a weapon to kill a ton of people. So here he was a 100-year-old man who had no idea how to deal with this society or even this century.

He pulls himself out of bed and walks out to the balcony, settling down on a chair Steve had put out for him, looking down upon the ground and the people walking past. He liked to observe them from high above. Sort of like a cat he felt most comfortable when he was above others. The distance put him at ease and calmed his anxious mind. He inhaled the fresh morning air as he watched a brown-haired girl walk out from a cafe he had been curious to see from the inside, but he never dared venture out into the buzz of humans walking past him. He watched her as she strolled along the sidewalk with her curls bouncing in the wind, she seemed so free and even more carefree that he felt the ping of jealousy creep under his skin.

Why couldn't he just go down and buy himself a coffee in that cafe? It's not that far, and it might be good for him to get some fresh air that isn't from the balcony. He knows that Steve would be pleased. Bucky knows how much he worries about him and how much he wants him to get back to his old self but honestly, he didn't even know who his former self, was anymore. Hydra had pulled himself in and out of that icebox so many times that all his memories were all bundled together in a big mess, not to mention the countless erasing of the remainder of his identity. Hydra pulled every part that was him out of his core and shattered it over and over. Every time he thought that he might be able to hold onto something it was pulled from his grasp leaving him with the cold numbness.

He hears Steve preparing their breakfast, and he decides to join him. Carefully walking into the kitchen observing Steve's movements before greeting him. He looked good today; his blondish hair was smoothed back. The beard he had grown, to try and hide his identity a little, was getting long, and Bucky couldn't help but appreciate him with a beard. He looked less proper and more like a normal human being, which Bucky liked. It made him feel a little better. He was wearing a black shirt, that was a bit too small and blue jeans. Steve turns around and spots him, his blue eyes light up at the sight of him. And his stomach does a little flip, which he ignores completely.

"Hey, Buck. How did you sleep?" His deep and cheerful voice rings out and grounds him again.

"uh, fine." He mumbles and settles down on his usual chair. Steve smiles softly at him and turns around to cook the eggs.

Bucky feels the usual anxiety bubble up, he knows what's about to happen, and he wishes that he didn't do this every day but he can't help himself. He has to try because maybe one day he might look at him and say "you know what, I'm staying at home here with you" and that dream keeps him going.

He opens his mouth to ask him, they both know that he will, but the words don't come out. Steve turns around and pours some eggs on his plate; he looks a little concerned.

God, he wishes that he would stay at home just this one time.

"Stay" Bucky's voice is merely a whisper. "Stay home with me Stevie, just this one time" He begs him, knowing its pointless. Steve frowns, and he sees the pain that he causes him once again. He meets his eyes and those impossibly blue eyes stare into Bucky's steel blue ones. The pain is obvious, and the guilt settles in the pit of his stomach.

"You know I wish I could. But today is a really important day. I might be promoted if I'm lucky. We can watch a movie later, okay? you choose." Steve offers and Bucky nods. They eat in silence and then Steve leaves. And the pain begins all over again.

STEVE'S POV

Steve arrives home feeling cheerful but also nervous. He got the promotion he hoped for, which was a good thing. It meant more money which was good. The downside was the hours. His schedule had been changed. He had to work later and more hours, but one good thing was that he had a day where he could work from one once every two weeks and the weekends off. The other days, however, he wouldn't come home until after dinner. A fact he wasn't looking forward to telling Bucky, hoping that he would be okay.

He walks into the apartment and is usually met by an anxious Bucky in the hall who seems to relax the second he sees him, but this time he doesn't greet him. He walks into the living room and finds him sitting on the couch looking grim. This particular day must have been a hard one because Bucky is as tense as a spring. His whole body is stiff, and his face grimaced into a dead but yet somehow scared expression. His eyebrows are scrunched together, jaw clenched and his steel blue eyes wild. Again Steve gets the urge to hug him to his chest to comfort him and protect him from his mind, but he never does. He tried it a few months back, and Bucky freaked out, started yelling and throwing things around with a panicked look in his eyes. He ended up sitting on the floor his arms wrapped around his head mumbling ''leave me alone'' and ''no please'' over and over, it took him hours to calm down, so Steve never attempted it again.

Steve walks in and sits down o the couch next to him; he doesn't seem even to notice him.

"Do you want pizza or Chinese today?" Steve asks him, hoping to pull him out of whatever is happening inside his mind. Buckys eyes meet Steve's, and his blood runs cold at the dead look in them.

"Hmm?" Steve sighs internally and reminds himself to be patient. "Do you want to eat pizza or Chinese food today Buck?" He repeats, and Bucky perks up a little.

"Pizza" He mumbles as his eyes stare into the wall. "Pizza it is then. The usual I assume?" The super soldier nods and Steve gets up to call their local pizza place. When he returns Bucky hasn't moved an inch, and Steve reminds himself to be patient once again. It was just so hard for him to watch his friend as this broken man being helpless to do anything about it. Steve suggests watching an old movie, and Bucky nods again.

The food arrives, and they settle down on the couch nomming on their food and watching "singing in the rain." One of Bucky's favorites. Although he doesn't seem to be paying much attention to the movie, suddenly he turns towards Steve and stares into his eyes. Bucky's eyes have a serious look in them as if he is trying his hardest to gather his thoughts.

"How was your day?" Bucky asks frowning, but eyes piercing. Better get this over with, Steve thinks to himself.

"It was good. I got promoted." Steve carefully says and watches for any reaction from Bucky, his eyes widen for a second, but that's all.

"What does that mean?" He pushes and then groans before continuing. "I mean, that's great. Congrats punk." He gives Steve a careful smile, which he gratefully accepts.

"Thanks, pal. Um, it means more pay. Which is good. But also longer hours." Steve watches as a million emotions roll over Bucky's face, he can't decipher what they are, and before he knows it, he is back to his controlled expression.

"Youll be gone for even longer hours? Every day?" Steve nods and Bucky slowly nods, taking in this new information it seems.

"But I will still have the weekends off and one day every two weeks off," Steve adds hoping it might help. Bucky smiles a little-strained smile. "Well, congrats man." Silence falls upon the two men as they each try to figure out what to say, Bucky is the first one to speak as he announces that he is tired and that he is going to bed, before Steve can respond he has gotten up and almost jogs to his room. Leaving Steve alone with the burning guilt inside his gut.

Fin x

Next chapter..

Hope you liked it!

Don’t be afraid to leave any feedback you wish; I would love to hear your thoughts. xx

Taglist IS OPEN, just send me an ask or message specifying what you want to be tagged in. Or if you want to be removed, message me as well.

A line through your name means I couldn’t tag you for some reason also message if I’ve forgotten you.

Permanent Taglist: @holland-stan-posts @bibegone @sergeantjbuckybarnes @hannahll14

TAITL taglist: @fuckthatfeeling / @mia-at-work / @2nameless13 / @lucinapomona / @supernaturallover2002 / @slender--spirit / @kimmiestrawberrykiwi

53 notes · View notes

matthewmrdock · 6 years

Text

Another Tag Game!

Thank you to @neenabthurman for tagging me!

last

Drink: chocolate milk

Phone call: my best friend

Text Message: “I don’t think so. There are two boxes to put words in though. One for a place and one for a name.” - I was talking about setting up our fantasy football team name with my cousins.

Song you listened to: Lie to Me - 5 Seconds of Summer

Time you cried: A couple nights ago when my mom said I wasn’t grateful for all she does for me and I wanted my dad back.

ever

Dated someone twice: Never dated someone in the first place lmao

Kissed someone and regretted it: Never kissed anyone either

Been cheated on: No

Lost someone special: Yeah, my dad

Been depressed: Yep

Gotten drunk and thrown up: Nope

Fave colours: Light blue, maroon and purple

in the last year have you

Made new friends: Yep

Fallen out of love: No

Laughed until you cried: No

Found out someone was talking about you: I don’t think so

Met someone who changed you: Yeah

Found out who your friends are: I don’t really know what this means but I’ve learned new things about people that made me like them more or less so yeah?

Kissed someone on your facebook friends list: I don’t have facebook and have never kissed anyone so...

general

How many of your facebook friends do you know irl: Still don’t have facebook

Do you have any pets: Nope

Do you want to change your name: Not really

What did you do for your last birthday: Nothing, I had school and a field hockey game but that’s really it

What were you doing at midnight last night: Sleeping

What is something you can’t wait for: Graduating high school and going to college

What are you listening to right now: Marvel University on Youtube

Have you ever talked to a person named tom: Yeah Tom Brady my guyyy

Something that gets on your nerves: Loud chewing, slightly open doors,

Most visited website: Tumblr

Hair colour: Red/light brown

Long or short hair: Medium

Do you have a crush on someone: Not right now but there are some very cute girls in some of my classes

What do you like about yourself: My hair, my eyes, my freckles, my height and the rest my body I guess?

Want any piercings: I think a nose piercing would be cute

Blood type: I have no idea

Nicknames: Brookie Cookie

Relationship status: Single

Zodiac: Libra

Pronouns: She/her

Fave tv shows: Arrowverse shows, Agents of Shield, Big Brother, OutDaughtered, American Horror Story, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn 99 (this list is all over the place)

Tattoos: No, but I would like to have some

Right or left handed: Right for most things, but I do somethings left handed

Ever had surgery: Nope

Piercings: Ears

Sports: Field Hockey, Basketball, Tennis

Vacation: I like going to Disney World if that’s what this means?

more general

Eating: Nothing right now

Drinking: Nothing right now

About to watch: Nothing I’m going to sleep after I finish this lmao

Waiting for: High school graduation, Avengers 4,

Want: A new US President, preferably Joe Biden with Barack Obama as VP

Get married: Yes!!

Career: Student, but hopefully a detective/sergeant in the future

which is better

Hugs or kisses

Lips or eyes

Shorter or taller

Older or younger

Nice arms or stomach

Hookup or relationship

Troublemaker or hesitant

have you ever

Kissed a stranger: Nope

Drunk hard liquor: Yeah

Lost glasses: No

Turned someone down: Yep

Sex on first date: Nope

Broken someone’s heart: I don’t know

Had your heart broken: Yeah

Been arrested: No

Cried when someone died: My dad

Fallen for a friend: Yep

do you believe in

Yourself: Yes

Miracles: Kinda

Love at first sight: Kinda

Santa claus: Nope

Kiss on a first date: Why not

Angels: I think so

others

Best friend’s name: Davin

Eye colour: Hazel

Fave movie: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I Feel Pretty, both Ant-Man movies, The Martian, Ted and Ted 2, Deadpool 2

Fave actors: Tom Holland, Brianna Hildebrand, Sebastian Stan, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds

Tagging: @marvel-marbles @just-your-local-history-nerd @daily-marvel-dose

#tag game #brooke answers

2 notes · View notes

spectrumscribe · 7 years

Text

a solo act is good, too.

a Humanverse general TMNT universe fic, mostly using 2012 versions and borrowing from IDW here and there. i’ve always headcanoned 2012 Mikey as an aro/ace, so on the free day of the lgbtmntweek i decided to finally write a fic up for the hc.

(not @ them bc of a slight NSFW situation involved. nothing graphic, it barely lasts more than five sentences.)

“So Mikey, when’d you and Angel start dating?”

Mikey, age nine and a half, hits pause on his current model building project to give a blank stare to his friend across the table. Mondo keeps staring back, expectant.

“What??” Mikey asks.

“Everyone’s saying you’re girlfriend and boyfriend!” Mondo exclaims. He shoves aside his own Lego to lean forwards, whispering fervently, “You know girls have cooties, right?”

“Uh, yeah? Duh,” Mikey says, then remembers that his cousin Karai and friend April will beat him up for saying that, and diverts the subject. “But we’re not dating! Angel just likes Bionicle, that’s all. She’s fun, and we live really close.”

“Girls don’t like Bionicle,” Mondo says. “My sister hates it. She’s gotta be faking it so you guys can date.”

Mikey feels confused. He thought they were just friends who liked the same toys and TV show. And Angel never said so, so they aren’t dating. “But we’re not-!”

“You totally are!”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

“Boys, settle down,” A passing TA says, and both boys quiet down.

There’s a moment of silence, and Mondo whispers, “Totally dating.”

And Mikey sticks out his tongue, not listening to another word his friend says all through free time. He’ll just ask Angel later, when they walk home from school together.

“My friends were saying the same thing, actually,” Angel says later, when they’re weaving through the streets back to their shared neighborhood.

Mikey scrunches his nose. “What? Why?”

Angel shrugs, reaching up and twisting one of her long dark strands around her finger. “They said we hang out a lot, so we gotta be dating.”

“That’s dumb. Donnie and April hang out a lot and they’re not dating.”

“I said that too, but everyone else thinks they’re dating anyways.”

Mikey groans. “So dumb.”

Angel shrugs again. “It’s not super dumb. I think dating sounds kinda fun.”

“Ew, no.”

“What, you wouldn’t date me?”

“You’re my friend.”

“So?”

“Friends don’t date, they do- friend stuff!”

“My big brother says that dating starts with friendship, though.”

Mikey thinks about that for a moment. “Really? People on TV just kiss a bunch, though.”

“Keno doesn’t kiss his girlfriend too much, they mostly just sit around and talk a lot,” Angel explains. “Or play music in his room, sometimes. So kinda what we do, but I guess big kid stuff instead.”

“So… are we dating, then?” Mikey asks tentatively.

Angel looks at him, contemplative as she examines Mikey’s baggy orange shirt, his cargo shorts, and wildly tangled brown hair. “Maybe? Do you wanna be dating?”

“Uh, we’d still do friend stuff, right?” Mikey doesn’t think kissing part sounds too bad. But only if it’s in little amounts.

“Well duh, we gotta finish Bionicle, right?”

“Oh totally.”

They keep walking for a minute, and Mikey remembers something that people who date are supposed to do. “I think we hold hands now.”

“Oh, right.”

Angel sticks out her hand, and Mikey takes it. They keep walking, go to his house where his brothers are already hanging around in, and they watch Bionicle season 2’s fifth episode together.

They end up kissing possibly three times over the course of the rest of the week, barely pecks on the lips, before Angel says they should probably break up.

“There’s no spark,” She says very seriously. “It’s not you, Mikey, it’s the spark.”

Mikey is hurt for about two seconds, and then shrugs. He’d only really been doing it because people said he’s supposed to. “Okay. You still wanna sleep over?”

It makes a lot more sense, around fourteen, why Angel hadn’t felt any spark for the brief relationship or Mikey. Mostly having to do with her dyeing her hair purple, getting a pink shaded button for her bag, and going steady with Alopex from her apartment building. Mikey isn’t really surprised- Karai had had the same kind of look Angel grew into at the exact same age, and his cousin had been dating girls since she figured out how to bleach her hair.

Mikey, by fourteen, has had exactly one relationship, three first kisses, and lacks motivation to seek out another situation to build those counts. He’s moved on from his Bioncle years- though he keeps some toys, for the sake of nostalgia- and dived headfirst into the Marvel comic’s universe.

The school library has an excellent selection, and at the beginning of his fourteenth year he meets a girl buried up to her ears in that section. Renet and Mikey hit it off immediately, swapping knowledge and recommendations and favorites and strong opinions about individual universes.

“Who’s your friend?” Leo asks after one evening, when Mikey had spent about an hour and a half debating heatedly on the phone. Guardians of the Galaxy verses the Avengers- who did more on the grand scale of things for the earth and its wellbeing? Mikey voted the Guardians, but Renet had fought back valiantly that ground troops frequently made more differences than long-range artillery support.

“Renet! She just moved here like, three weeks ago or something,” Mikey says, hanging up the phone. The debate would have to be continued at school, next lunchtime. He turns to his sixteen year old brother, grinning. “Can she come over for dinner sometime? You guys’ll love her, I swear.”

“Her?” Raph asks loudly from the living room. “Holy shit, did you finally get a girlfriend?”

Mikey frowns. “Uh. No? She’s just my comics buddy.”

“Who you’re inviting for dinner,” Leo says pointedly. “Who you just spent like, two whole hours talking to, instead of texting.”

“Hey Donnie, Mike’s finally got a crush on someone!” Raph hollers. Crashing follows and Donnie skids down the steps of their second story in all his fifteen year old lanky glory. He nearly wipes out on the pile of laundry by the steps.

“Did we get blackmail yet?” Donnie asks immediately, hardly taking the time to steady himself.

“Working on it,” Leo replies.

Mikey slaps his hands over his eyes, groaning. “Guyyys! Shut up! That’s not how this is! She’s just- really cool, okay? And knows about superhero shit!”

He hears his older brothers make disbelieving sounds, and Mikey ignores them all. Maybe he deserves a little teasing- he’d done so to all of them about their crushes- but it’s! Not! Like that!

And then the first school dance of the year rolls around, and Mikey is faced yet again by social pressure to be dating someone. He has limited options for a dance date: his cousin, who scares everyone and is probably too busy to come. His best friend, who has two dates already (Mikey doesn’t know how Mondo managed that or how he’s going to keep that a secret from both dates, but he promises his friend the funeral will be a nice one). His other best friend, but LH is twenty-something and would really scare everybody, even though he’s just a big softie who likes leather too much. None of those dates are acceptable, in hindsight.

Or there’s Renet.

Mikey wants to go to the dance, because dancing is great and he loves social events in general, so he agonizes a bit and finally asks Renet to go with him.

She turns bright pink when he does, and fumbles her hold on issue four of Wolverine and the X-men. “O-oh, Mikey. I didn’t know you, um, felt that way about me?”

Mikey rushes to abolish that idea. “No! I mean- I like you, but not like that! It’s just a stupid dance, okay? I just want to dress up nice and go dancing, I swear.”

Renet sighs in relief. “Okay, good. I’m not really supposed to date until I’m older anyways. I’m glad we don’t have to have such a totally uncomfortable convo.”

Mikey slumps in his chair, huffing. “You and me both. So will you?”

“Be your date?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure! I love dances, they’re totally bodacious,” Renet giggles, and Mikey grins in return. His friend’s outdated slang has to be one of his favorite things about her. He kind of wonders why isn’t crushing on her- Renet is curvy and cute and knows a ton about comics- but she’s just his friend.

Mikey puts that thought aside, and asks Renet what the hell a corsage is.

When the night rolls around, she shows up in a dress and hijab that’s color coordinated and he puts on actual dress pants for once. He wears his favorite flannel and a bowtie borrowed off Donnie- and grins and bears it as his father, brothers, and their friends all snap pictures of him and Renet.

“You two are so cute,” April comments, taking a picture as Mikey sticks his tongue out at her.

“I hate all of you,” He grouches, but smiles again so Renet’s parents will have good photos. At least he gets to have revenge, snatching up a camera and getting all the angles possible of Leo, Donnie, April, Casey, and Raph in their outfits. The five of them are going stag together- for reasons Mikey is Highly Suspicious of, regarding Donnie, Casey, April, and Leo in particular- and he’s only a little mad they didn’t tell him going stag was an option.

The dance itself goes great- good music, good mood, mediocre refreshments and minimal buzzkill from teachers supervising. Mikey sees and meets his family throughout the evening, throwing down on the dancefloor with Renet and their classmates. He sees Leo making his Nervous But Trying Not To Be face as he talks to a couple of his classmates, mostly towards one Asian guy with dyed white hair. Mikey also sees Raph drifting from the group with his friends and twin, towards the punch table and snacks, which leaves Donnie, Casey, and April shimmying in a circle and looking really awkward, and why can’t they just figure themselves out already, jeeze.

Mikey focuses mostly on twirling Renet around, and having fun with that. Mondo, who is soaked in punch from his dates dumping him and going off together, gives Mikey meaningful looks directed towards Renet.

Mikey ignores his friend and highly awkward family members, and just enjoys dancing with his comics buddy. Renet, at the end of the night, is flushed and grinning and Mikey really does wonder why he doesn’t feel the need to kiss her. She is awfully cute.

When the drop her off at home, all they say to each other is a reminder that comic swap is this Thursday and to remember to bring the ones they’d borrow from one another. And then Renet leaves, shutting the door and shutting Mikey inside a van with his stupid nosy family.

“So,” Leo says, and Mikey doesn’t have to look towards the driver seat to hear that grin.

“You two crazy kids kiss tonight?” Casey finishes, poking the back of Mikey’s head. Mikey swats the hand and tells them all to piss off. His family does not in fact piss off and pokes for juicy details for at least another few blocks.

There’s no ‘juicy details’ to tell, even after he and Renet meet up the rest of the week and keep meeting up. They swap comics and have debates and just hang out, still just friends and unchanged from the dance date. Mikey wonders on and off why he doesn’t have a crush on Renet- or anyone, really- but brushes it off in favor of the new Superior Ironman series coming out soon.

It stays that way, through years fifteen and sixteen- while Leo finally works up the courage to admit out loud he likes guys and ask Usagi out, Donnie and Casey and April keep making circles around each other and the elephant in the room, and Raph starts making eyes at a cadet in training he’s met at the gym. Even Renet starts going steady with a boy her family approves of, and she approves of even more so, and Mondo goes through about five more relationships, all ending in various states of chaotic mutuality.

Mikey watches his family and friends all be in love or at least interested in other people, and Mikey just keeps feeling more interested in his comics and skating.

“Maybe you’re gay, like me,” Angel suggests at one point, while they’re sitting at her kitchen table and cramming for a bio test.

“I dunno, maybe?” Mikey answers, and doesn’t feel against dating a guy, but feels about as enthused as he would dating a girl. Or anyone in between, honestly.

“You already tried girls, give some guys a shot. More for me.”

“You thinking of cheating on Alo?”

Angel flicks an eraser at Mikey. It lodges in his coils and he doesn’t even bother getting it out.

“Hell no, and if you say anything like that to her I’ll bust your kneecaps.”

“Noted.”

Mikey actually gives it a shot, dating guys. Dating in general. Keno introduces Mikey to a delivery boy his age at a local pizzeria, and Woody’s not bad to hang out with. He’s got curly hair to Mikey’s coily, freckles except in red, and skates most weekends. And he likes comics, albeit indie ones, and they find a bit of common ground by breaking in each other for new fields of reading.

It goes great, chaste kisses and holding hands and having coffee dates to skate parks- up until Woody asks to take it a step further. And Mikey doesn’t… want to.

“Is it your first time or something?” His boyfriend asks, and Mikey nods. “Then we’ll… wait, I guess. Until you’re comfortable.”

“Thanks,” Mikey says, and tries to not feel guilty for not being ready right now. He knows for a fact Mondo lost his virginity ages ago, described in detail that Mikey had to make his friend shut up about, that Angel lost hers a while ago, told in much less detail, and that most of their classmates have. He also knows that his brothers had at least tried things at this point, and Mikey hasn’t.

He feels a little left behind and frustrated about it.

He tells his buddy, Linnorm Hirutarum, named after a dragon because his parents had been awesome, all about it as LH tends to the vegetable patch behind his tiny house. Mikey flops all over the grass by it, grumbling and sighing, and snitching lettuce when he pretends LH isn’t looking.

“If you are not ready, then you are not ready,” LH says sensibly in his usual growling tone. Which is default for him and basically his version of a warm-fuzzy tone anyways.

“But I should be!” Mikey exclaims. “Everyone else was. Is. Augh.”

“Have you talked about this with Woody?”

“I… I don’t want him thinking it’s about him. Because it’s not! It’s just stupid whatever stuff for me and I need to get over it.”

LH’s shadow falls over him, and Mikey waits for his huge friend to gently lower himself onto the grass. LH’s wide scars move with him as he does, displayed by a sleeveless shirt only in the safety of the hedge protected backyard. His hand comes down on Mikey’s veritable afro, and pats Mikey’s head as he keeps talking.

“I know people who have made rash decisions about these sorts of things,” LH says seriously. “If you are not ready, then do not force yourself to. Respect your own boundaries.”

Mikey sighs, but agrees to respect himself. It’s easy to agree in that moment, with only LH’s non-judgemental presence near him, but it’s harder when he’s with Woody again and trying to explain himself without being rude.

He gives it a try, the whole sex thing. LH said to respect his boundaries, but Mikey thinks he can do it if he just figures out how it goes. Everyone else likes it, so shouldn’t he?

They talk about it, set up a date, and Mikey gets ready to experience the… experience.

It ends up being an unexciting, uncomfortable half hour of sloppy kisses and bumping parts. Mikey tries his best, but can’t figure out why anyone works so hard to experience this.

When it’s all over, Mikey hasn’t felt anything remotely close to pleasure, and actually feels a little over touched. Woody is a bit flushed, breathing fast by Mikey’s ear, but doesn’t seem super pleased either.

“…you didn’t enjoy it, did you?” He asks.

Mikey covers his eyes, and sighs. “No. Sorry.”

“Yeah, I thought you didn’t. Sorry, Mikey.”

“It’s not your fault,” Mikey says, taking his arms away and staring at the ceiling of Woody’s room. “I’m pretty sure this one’s all on me.”

They sit in stiff silence for a moment, before Woody asks if Mikey wants to stay for dinner. Mikey declines as gracefully as he can, and goes home instead. Slogging upstairs and heading into the shower to wash off.

He’s pretty sure he shouldn’t feel so much better, alone in his bedroom and freshly cleaned of the lingering smell of body fluids. His brothers find him there later, in a bathrobe and watching the original Twin Peaks on his laptop, and they ask him why he washed so early.

Mikey debates for a moment, and decides they’ll find out somehow anyways. “I had sex.” He’s unsurprised to hear Leo choke on his own spit, and Raph and Donnie make twin sounds of shock and disbelief. “Yup. Popped the cherry but good. You guys can stop teasing me about it, now.”

Does he sound a little bitter? Mikey thinks he does. From the way his brothers hover awkwardly in the doorway, they heard the bitterness, too.

“…you okay, Mikey?” Leo asks, genuinely concerned.

Mikey shrugs. “I’m fine. It just went awful, that’s all.”

Raph pats Leo on the shoulder, simultaneous with Donnie, as they both silently nominate the eldest to deal with the situation. Leo shoots them both an abandoned look, but steps into Mikey’s room to come sit on his bed. Mikey doesn’t pause his video, using it as a distraction from his prickling shame.

Leo watches him for a moment, before asking, “You used protection, right?” and Mikey groans, covering his face.

“It wasn’t that kind of sex, okay?”

“Oh. Um. Good?”

“Smooth,” Raph comments from the doorway, audibly swatted at by Donnie.

“Anyways,” Leo recovers. “You were both… you talked about it beforehand, right? You both wanted it?”

“Yeah,” Mikey says miserably into his sleeve.

“…you know first times are always bad, right, Mikey? It takes- um- practice-”

“It wasn’t because of that, Leo. You can stop.”

“Thank you,” Leo says gratefully. Donnie and Raph snicker from the doorway. “So… what was it because?”

“I can’t believe this is a conversation we’re having.”

“Shh!”

“If it’s somethin’ that kid did-”

“Raph we talked about that contingency already: only if Mikey says so-”

“It wasn’t Woody,” Mikey says, before death threats start getting thrown around. “It was me, okay? I made it suck.” He takes his arms off his face, shooting a look at all three of his siblings. “And before you say it- no it wasn’t just because it was my first time. It sucked ‘cause I suck and I couldn’t figure out how to enjoy sex, okay?”

A beat of silence, all three of his brothers staring at him, and then Leo breaks the lull.

“Mikey… you don’t ‘figure out’ how to enjoy sex. You just- enjoy it. It happens naturally.”

Mikey’s cheeks burn and he scowls. “Well apparently not with me.”

“Maybe you just haven’t met the right person yet?” Raph suggests. “I mean, you know me and how things go with that.”

Mikey shakes his head. “I kinda doubt it; I’ve tried to get crushes on like, ten different kids at school and nada. Zip.”

Donnie tilts his head, long hair following the movement. “Maybe when you’re older you’ll be more interested?”

Mikey sighs. “I don’t know. Maybe. I hope so. But it’s been like- never a thing, okay? I should’ve had feelings or whatever at some point, at least once, right?”

A collective “uhhhh” from his brothers and Mikey turns over into his pillow to suffocate himself. Leo pats his back comfortingly, saying Mikey should just give himself more time, keep an open mind to chances in the future- and Mikey makes a wordless complaining sound into his pillow for it.

He and Woody break it off a few weeks later. His friend tried, and Mikey recognizes that, but Woody needs a relationship that involves stuff Mikey just… can’t figure out how to give. He tries only two more times before they just call it quits. It’s not working, and trying to make it work is just frustrating for them both.

They keep being friends afterwards, and that’s actually better in the long run. It’s everything Mikey really wanted out of the relationship anyways, so he doesn’t feel like he’s lost anything.

He feels shitty for not being able to put out like he wanted to, though. And that drives him nuts for the rest of the year, until he’s seventeen and graduating finally, and gearing up to follow his siblings to local universities. Donnie graduated ages ago, but stayed local because of their family and he, April, and Casey’s really obvious secret relationship. Casey is in mechanics, and April in general sciences; Donnie is in both and more, because he’s insane. Leo is already a few years into his share of university courses, a hopeful nurse in the future, and Raph is neck deep in his art courses.

Mikey doesn’t know what he’s going to go for, and signs up for a random collection of electives to start with. Social sciences and psychology looks sort of fun, and so do dance courses. But those are months away, and before then is summer, family time, and June’s Pride Parade.

They’ve gone a couple times, when everyone has the day off from work or classes, and this year Mikey doesn’t have a shift at his outreach program scheduled on the parade’s date. So he, his family and friends, all end up watching the parade go by in a loosely connected group.

The standard drag queens, sponsor programs, and generally proud and loud folks roll by, music and cheer its usual levels of boisterousness. Mikey snags a couple plastic necklaces that are being given out, and just enjoys hanging out with his family. He waves to Angel and Alopex as they march by, part of the local lesbian representatives, watching the familiar pink and red flags flutter as they do, but pauses as the next group follows them.

It’s just a handful of people, walking with grey, white, purple, and black flags, mixed with ones very similar but instead of purple, they have green. There’s some polite clapping as they go past, and Mikey nudges Donnie beside him. “Hey, Donnie, what’re those flags for?”

“I… don’t actually know?” His phone is out within seconds, reflexes of a true technology addict. “Let’s see what our almighty lord and savior google has to say about it.” Mikey pushes close, reading as much as he can as Donnie flicks through the search faster than he can take it. “They’re- huh. They’re for ‘asexuality’ and... ‘aromantics’? I don’t even know what the second one is, and I’ve never heard about that first one being applied to anything other than asexual reproduction.”

“More explanation, please?” Mikey asks impatiently.

“It’s says- don’t push, I’m trying to scroll- it says it’s for individuals with little or no sexual drive, or little to no interest in romance. Actually that sounds contradictive, why are they listed together…”

Mikey’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”

“Well, that’s a gross oversimplification of everything here. There’s a spectrum for it, and apparently different categories? This is actually pretty interesting. I wonder why I’ve never read about it before.”

Mikey snags the phone from his brother, scrolling back to the top and rereading the first few paragraphs. He ignores Donnie’s grabby hands and keeps reading, feeling a twisty hopeful emotion build in his chest.

“Here,” He says, tossing the phone back at his brother. “hold my spot.” And he takes off at a jog to catch up with the parade members. They’re not too far ahead, and Mikey just has to avoid slipping on stray necklaces as he runs over to them.

“Hey- hey!” He shouts, catching up with the first person he can. The woman turns questioningly towards him, and Mikey blurts, “When did you- did you first know?”

She blinks at him, adjusting her hold on the big flag pole on her shoulder. “Excuse me?”

“That you’re asexual,” Mikey asks, heart tempo speeding up. “How’d you know?”

She stares at him a second longer, and then grins. “Around the time I had my first girlfriend, and I looked back at the times with my other partners and figured out I was always more interested in watching the movie than I was in making out.”

Mikey grins back. “Yo- same hat!”

“Oh yeah?”

“Totally! My ex always wanted to make out during Luke Cage and I was always like- dude no there’s good stuff happening. That’s. Wow.” Mikey feels a little breathless. “So that’s what it is? It’s not like- just a me thing?”

He barely hears the crowd around them, his focus tunneled around the conversation and the woman holding the flag. Mikey waits for a denial or an okay, a little scared while he’s so excited.

The woman smiles kindly. “No, that’s not just a you thing. We’re not a huge community, but there’s aces out there. Do you think you’re one of us?”

“I don’t know, I’m- I’m hoping so?” Mikey’s heart does a little twist. “I mean. My bro just pulled up the google explanation, and it sounds really, really. Um. Like me?”

The woman reaches up to the front of her jean jacket, and reaches into a pocket. When she pulls out her hand, she holds something out to Mikey.

“Look into it a little more, but if you think asexuality fits you- then welcome to the club, kid.”

Mikey takes the little button, grinning ear to ear. He thinks he’s shaking he’s so ecstatic. “Hey, would it be cool if I hugged you right now? I think you just solved like half my life problems.”

The woman laughs, and holds her arm out. It’s an awkward hug, because they’re both still walking and she’s carrying a flag, but Mikey appreciates it wholly.

When he comes back to his family, he’s got a new pin stuck to his shirt and an elated, hopeful feeling in his chest behind it.

“Hey guys, guess what?”

Turns out, not really feeling like dating people is fine all on its own.

So while Leo and Usagi go through the ups and downs of long-standing relationships, Donnie, Casey, and April all share their usual collective awkwardness and romantic overtures, Raph finally lands a date with the cadet Y’Gythgba he’s been following around for ages, and Karai and Shinigami disappear over the eastern horizon to share their seventh anniversary-

Mikey cracks a fresh pile of comics in his bedroom, turns up his music, and calls Renet on Skype to have a comparison hangout of their latest picks. He hangs out with Mondo and Woody around the skate park before that, and rolls by Angel’s place to say hi to his friend and her family on the way back. He pops in at LH’s place, trading half the casserole Angel’s mom gave to him for fresh veggies, chatting about his day so far and plans for a comic binge later. He sees his friends, does what he always does with them, and departs from them all one after another.

When he goes home, enjoying the summer heat all on his own and excited to video call his best girl who-is-his-friend and nothing more- he doesn’t feel even the slightest bit lonely as he walks. Like he always has.

#My writing #tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt IDW #michelangelo #asexuality #what a great kid #i really enjoy relating to him on this subject #as well as sliding a few good pairings along the sidelines mhm #and fyi y'gythgba eventually joins the paratroopers and is raph's really cool and buff gf #and shinigami has her nickname in here because of her status as a veritable reaper in the online games she plays #And yes #the capritello trio do eventually figure themselves out and establish a relationship officially #all good things

58 notes · View notes

icequeenjules26 · 7 years

Text

Soulless (Miserable at best #6)

Part #1 - Part #2 - Part #3 - Part #4 - Part #5

Guyyys! It’s happening - Part #6 and I’m back (kind of)! I rewrote this chapter around 5 times in total. I’m still not happy with it, but I’ll never be, so here it comes! Finally, one might say... Big shoutout to the squad, @strawberriesindenial, especially @ac-ars, as always (but also to Pili and Maro and Barbara and Sarah and.... everybody because you guys are just amazing!!!) Is anybody aside from the squad even still reading this??

They made their way back home in an uncomfortable silence. Even the driver seemed to notice it and shot a look through the rear mirror, eyebrow raised curiously, but Gaston shrugged it off. He had tried to make casual small talk with Matteo, but his answers had always been short and void of emotions, with a noticeable side-glance at Nina that told her he wouldn’t spill anything at all till she was gone and the boys left alone.

Not that she could blame him for that though – because, seriously, how could she? If she’d be sitting in a car with Luna and the best friend of her crush – or more ex-crush? Was the new Matteo even capable of having crushes, feelings at all? Seemed unclear to her – she wouldn’t speak her mind either. Instead she probably wouldn’t speak at all – trying to sink into the cushion and disappear completely from the face of the earth for the time being sounded more like her.

Than again Matteo was a completely different case – not like her at all. He had always been somewhat confident, holding himself in a way where being embarrassed or uncomfortable not even seemed to be part of his vocabulary. There was something about his demeanor, about the way he looked, about his body language that made people stop what they were doing and take a moment to look at him, something about him that showed that he knew exactly what he was doing, every step, every breath that he took confident and certain, like every single wave or even blink had a deeper meaning, fulfilled a purpose that only he could know about. He was moving with a certainty about everything that enhanced him till the not bad of his outward appearance changed into wow.

Or more: had been.

Because as Nina sat in the limousine that Gaston had forced her to share with them to get home – “Seriously, Gaston, it’s not that far from here, I can walk for sure”-“No you won’t!” – she noticed it was different, he was different. And while the certainty seemed to still be there at the first look it was painfully obvious it wasn’t at the second. Somehow it was different, his shoulders slumped just a bit more, his hand shaking just the slightest bit, the corner of his mouth aching in a slightly lower angle; overall she couldn’t exactly pinpoint the reason, maybe it was one of the above, maybe all of them, maybe a completely different one altogether; but something was different, not just in the way he looked but in the way he held himself, too; something that made her want to lock herself up into a dark room, cry herself to sleep and never get up again.

Maybe she was dramatizing things, but she was of the honest impression she wasn’t. Gaston looked more than worried, too, sick to his stomach, color completely faded from his cheeks. He had managed to sneak his hand into hers somewhere half along the way back to her father’s house, but the way he gripped onto hers as if for dear life just made her more worried. But what was she supposed to do? She knew there was nothing; nothing now, nothing tomorrow, nothing at all. At this point there were two people in this world that could be able to help Matteo. His best friend, who strongly seemed to need help for himself first, and the girl he’d had a crush on for months, Luna Valente. The former wouldn’t be as effective, obviously, but the chances of him making things worse were somewhere near zero. The latter would be more effective, of course, but somehow it was clear she could make things worse in less than a heartbeat, too… And now, after getting to know all of that there was just one question Gaston and her had to ask themselves: Are they really willing to risk making things even worse?

Matteo was unsure about what to do during the entire car ride. He knew his best friend had tried to make casual small talk with him, obviously; but he wasn’t buying any of it, and he didn’t want to spill out important things in front of Nina, who’d probably go off and tell it to her best friend – Luna Valente. That girl was something, he didn’t exactly knew what – not anymore (or at least that was what he wanted to make himself believe) – but she still stirred something inside of him, annoying like a fly but somehow more dangerous. Far more dangerous. He was anything but dumb, he knew his current stableness could not be that stable at all. It could collapse like a house of cards at the next blow of opposing wind, or it could stand like a statue that had stood there, great and solid, for centuries. The greatest problem was that there was no way for him to know which one of these options was the case.

And because he couldn’t trust himself anymore he had to be careful. The fact that he had lost his feelings somewhere along the way didn’t mean that he had lost his anxiety because of them, too; but at least he could see himself clearly now, objective, without emotions clouding his judgement. It was quite relaxing, really.

He did wonder about Nina though. Because somehow he was not quite able to read her, tell what she wanted to do; and that bothered him far more than he cared to admit. The fact that she was there, at the airport, was something in itself, something he couldn’t possibly pinpoint the exact reason for, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to – no, in fact it was the exact opposite: there was something like the distant shadow of anxiety inside of him about her, bubbling and boiling and if he’d still know how to feel properly he’d be jumpy and nervous. The fact that Nina kept sending out different emotions and signals did not help with making things easier, not at all.

Some things about Nina were as clear as daylight though. The fact she was ridiculously in love with Gaston, obviously showing by the way her eyelids fluttered when their eyes met, the way her hands instantly stopped shaking as soon as he touched her, or the way her gaze kept drifting to their still intertwined hands every now and then as if she still couldn’t believe they were finally together.

With those minor details there came bigger observations, too. Her hands were shaking, which clearly meant she was nervous, anxious. She was unable to hold Gaston’s burning gaze for longer than a few seconds, eyes switching, roaming through her surroundings so quickly it would have made himself dizzy after a short amount of time, showing that the reason for said anxiety was close to her – it was him, obviously. There was no way to deny that.

He briefly considered asking her about it but quickly decided against it when he saw the way she was looking at him, letting her comforting gaze slightly brush over him, letting him know that she knew, that she cared, that she wanted to make things better – maybe even hug him – things so far from what he himself wanted that he even nearly shuddered at the thought. He found all the things he had thought about before at the airport in this gaze; all the things he had lost on the short way to the limousine, all the things he had been unable to find shortly after recognizing them the first time as if they’d been lost in translation.

She knew he was broken, she knew he was, opposing to what he kept assuring his best friend, not okay. But somehow, he couldn’t find it in him to care about that, about the fact that she knew about it, that she had read him that easily.

Because honestly, he just wasn’t. But he didn’t need or even want to be cuddled, to be told that everything was going to be fine or even just okay. Because it wasn’t, and it would never be again. That was just the way things were. It was not as if he was just a bit sad or angry and he could be repaired like an old car that the nearest engineer could fix. There was just nothing to be fixed, not now, not ever again. There was nothing, honestly, nothing that could change that, it was a fact – grass is green, the earth is round, Matteo is broken. Period. And of course he was glad that he had a best friend like Gaston, but honestly - it was not like he badly needed him. He needed nothing and no one anymore, because the part of him that would have cared was gone, shredded into pieces, and there was nothing that could restore it. He would have felt bad for Gaston, that his best friend could not even find it himself to care anymore, but he wasn’t even able to feel that. He didn’t, never would again; feelings had been a burden in life and now they were gone and everything was better. He didn’t worry anymore, not about anything and honestly, things had most certainly not changed for the worst. Life became something that did not hold any pain anymore, and he was more than okay with that. The clearity that came with the loss of feelings made his daily life easier, too; he even managed to get his graduation before school was officially over.

He was not about to tell Gaston about that though – about the fact that there was close to nothing holding him in Italy anymore. He was well aware of the fact that his best friend had some kind of business with him – and not business as usual, obviously, not when he flew him in all the way from Europe – but he was not really able to pinpoint the exact type of business. Something inside of him screamed that he should be concerned, or even better, running, but he didn’t. He had thought this through beforehand and had decided to go through with it, so he would – no backing off now. (He decided to not think about the fact that this screaming inside of him could very well be considered a feeling – nope, he was just not going there.)

Not even half an hour later Matteo was not so sure about his decision of coming back again anymore. They had dropped of Nina at her father’s house and headed back to Gaston’s home directly after. The Italian hadn’t even gotten the chance of really settling in, luggage still half full when his door opened to reveal his best friend staring at him with a raised eyebrow and the corner of his mouth twitching in a way that screamed danger even from kilometers afar.

Gaston stepped into his room without saying a single word, completely ignoring the fact Matteo was packed up to the chin with a pile of his clothes he was currently putting away into the cupboard and sitting down on his bed, forcefully patting the space next to him to signal his best friend to sit down right now.

Matteo, usually not the type to just do what he was told without questioning, complied without much ado, having noticed a determination in Gaston’s eyes that made it quite clear that he was finally done messing around.

And sure enough he spoke up just seconds later, deadly staring into the Italian’s eyes as if he could force all the answers he wanted out of him if he would just seem tough enough. “And now, Matteo, cut the fucking crap and get straight to the point. I don’t have enough time to keep hiding around the bush. How are you?”

Matteo sighed, sending a short look out of the window and wishing to be one of the clouds slowly drifting by, free and without a best friend right at their heels nagging about wanting to know everything they never wanted to tell anyone in the world. If he was soulless, why did his life still have to be like this?

Then he began talking.

#lutteo #gastina #soy luna #soy luna fanfic #lutteo fanfic #matteo balsano #gaston perida #nina simonetti #luna valente #my fanfic #miserable at best #why am i like this???#i'm so sorry

40 notes · View notes

crazy-lady-in-a-hat · 7 years

Note

Your muse is smashed drunk and incoherent.

(( My little addition to the story ofpoor drunk Emilae ))

The evening was pretty normal forUl'dah, hot and sticky with people running around doing theirbusiness with the merchants or sneaking off for the night to whatevermisadventure they sought. Em was sitting at her usually spot watchingthe random people pass her by as she contemplates her next sculpturewhen a handsome cinnamon miqo'te should show up with a faint grin anda grand idea.

Dryst looks up to the tall Elezen withhis deep whiskey hued eyes take in the slight frown up on her lips,the furrow in her brow, and the sunburn beginning on the bridge ofher nose. “Hey Em, join me for a drink? You look as if you coulduse one. By the way how long have you been out here today?”

She blinks a few times before she looksdown to Dryst. “Hello handsome. I’d love to join you for a drink!”Her frown would turn in to a bright smile. “I’m not sure how longI’ve been out here, why do you ask? I’ve been trying to find theperfect specimen for my newest sculpture. I thought it’d be easy outhere where there are any number of people, but I’ve had no luck.”

He would offer her a wider grin and hisarm. “Let’s just say you look like you might need a pick me up andwho knows may be you can find inspiration in side.” She nodsjumping off the wall and linking her arm with his. “Sounds good tome, maybe something strong as well, it’s been a long day with nothingmuch to show for it.” He nods leading her to the Sands.

As they step into the crowded tavern itwas a bit cooler than the outside but the air was stifling with allthe patrons gathered. The smell of smoke and booze mixed with foodhung thick in the air. Moving around the tavern they find two seatsat the bar. “So lovely what would you have?” He asks in a whisperagainst her ear so she could hear him against the cacophony of voices. “Coffee and whiskey sounds good to me.” He nods waving tothe barkeep ordering two.

Picking up the first of many she takesa deep drink then smiles to him over the top. “What brought you outhere to the city Dryst, the normal roaming and findings ofmisadventures?” He nods taking a long pull from his mug. “Aye,isn’t that the usual?” She nods turning to lean against the barlooking out at all the patrons gathered this evening. “All thesepeople have stories, there are hundreds of books right here in frontof us, if someone took the time to write them.” She giggleslooking to him taking a long drink from her mug, she stops a momentlooking to the mug in a bit of confusion but lifts a shoulder andenjoys the drink just the same. “Aye, there are many stories herewant to play a little game on guessing the story? The one who guesseswrong has to take a drink?” His deep whiskey eyes light up withmirth at the thought of story telling. She giggles with a nod. “I’mnot great at judging people by just looking at them, but this couldbe fun.”

Round One

“Lovely, pick a group and I’ll tellyou a tale to go with them.” Dryst looks to her with a faint smirkand a wink. Em looks around her sights fall on a tall male Roeleaning on the bar smoking a cigar talking with two female Miqo'te,the three of them were all drinking ale from steins. “How aboutthat group over there?” Dryst sizes up the group his ears flexingthis way and that trying to pick up a bit of their conversation.

Finally Dryst says what he thinks ofthe three sitting down the bar from them. “Well the Roe isobviously a business man with his two business associates havingdrinks.” Em looks them over curiously. “And you guess this how?” She giggles softly. He stands walking over to the group. “My dearEm, you see the drinks they are having are not that cheep and theyare dressed very well.” He turns to the Roe. “Sir, are you herewith your associates after a hard day with the merchants guild?” The Roe and the two Miqo'tes nod with identical bewildered looks upontheir faces. “There you have it lovely, now drink up.” Em sticksher tongue out at him with a laugh as she drinks up her coffee mixedwith whiskey.

Round Two

Em picks a Lalafell and a Hyur dancingwearing pointed hats and lovely frilly outfits. Dryst suggested thatthey were practicing for an upcoming show, it turned out that theywere just enjoying each others company while dancing to the musicplayed in the tavern. Dryst drank his coffee and whiskey.

Round Three

Em points to a pair of male auristanding in the back pointing out people and talking back and forth.Dryst sizes them up as lovers and they are pointing out outfits theymight try later. Walking over Dryst finds he is correct and wascomplimented on how he was dressed. Shaking her head Em once againdowns her mug getting gigglier and gigglier every moment.

Round Four

Em points to the other side of thetavern to a table that holds a Lalafell, a Roe, and an Elezen deepin a conversation that is getting louder by the moment. Drystsurmises that someone owes someone money. Come to find out the Elezenhad cheated in a game with the other two and they were here tocollect the money owed them. Em laughs finishing off her third drinkwhile Dryst looks at his second taking a long pull from it. “Onemore?” Em askes. Drysts watches her a moment then nods. “Onemore.”

Round Five

Em looks to the group that has gatheredaround them listening to the tales Dryst spins about those around theSands. “Those gathered with us are here to listen to you.” Shegrins to Dryst as he sticks his tongue out at her. “That’scheating.” She laughs. “You said last round.” He laughs asthey finish their last mug, more whiskey than coffee now. Shegiggles sliding off the stool. “O… okay. I tink it’s time to gohome.” He nods helping her to her feet as he dips his head towardsthe patrons that have gathered. “Goodnight folks, the show isover.” She leans against him playing with his tie and mumblingabout how cute he is. She stumbles over her feet a few times but theyfinally make it out the back of the tavern and onto one of the sidestreets before her whole world turns on it’s side.

( This is where @drystanaislinn post comes inhttps://drystanaislinn.tumblr.com/post/159335740233/26-my-muse-is-temporarily-blind)

( This is where @fillees post comes inhttp://fillees.tumblr.com/post/159341385608/4-my-muse-is-completely-drunk-and-incoherent)

Emilae giggles loudly as she turns herhead looking for the voices she hears. “Whhhhy are you guyyys overthere on the ceiling?” Lis and Dryst look behind them as Em slidesoff the couch head first with a thud. “This is why you can’t leave,she needs to get cleaned up and I will need the help getting herthere. Plus you look disheveled and a hot bath would do you wonders.”Lis looks Dryst over with a grin checking out his tattoos. Drystlooks to his wet pants and boots that have seen better days. “Maybea bit, but I can just go to my…” Lis cuts him off as her handscome up to his shoulders turning him around and lightly pushes him tothe other side with the couch and an upside down Em laughing andswinging her arms in exaggerated motions.

“Let’s see what damage has been doneshall we?” Lis looks over Dryst a moment taking in his tattooswith great appreciation. Em watches them giggling the whole time.“Hey Liss, Lissy, Dryst, Drystyyy.” She giggles so loud shesnorts as she plays with the sounds of their names. “Youzzz guyshelmp me up ssssso I cannn join youzz. That looookz like fun.” She continues to flail her arms “Why is my head so heavyyy?” Lis tries not to laugh at how Em had ended up. “You are both goinginto the bath. The rain got the worst of it but you still need toget cleaned up.”

Dryst and Lis move over to Em who isalmost all on the floor now her arms at odd angles. “I need help.”She says into the floor. The other two try not to laugh at herpredicament and move on to either side of her trying to capture aflailing arm only to end up with Em feeling them both up. Drystblinks as he looks at her, his cheeks darkening slightly beforelooking towards Lis who is blushing and does her best to move thegiggling Elezen. “You really need me here for this?” Lis nods.“Easier with four hands instead of two, plus you kept her out allnight.”

The three finally settle into the bathafter fighting Em’s flailing arms to get her out of her clothing.Settling back they let the hot water warm them up. “Who would havethought Em would be so giggly and touchy feely this drunk.” Lislaughs watching Dryst, his already flush cheeks darken a bit deeper. The mix of booze and heat causes Em to get sleepy. Dryst looks to Liswith a soft smirk inclining his head. “Looks like she has warmed upand is ready for bed.” Lis laughs looking towards Dryst as the daysevents and booze and hot bath are getting to him as well. “Lookslike you may be as well. Let’s get you both dried off andcomfortable.” Em looks between them leaning forward she drapes anarm around their shoulders. “I love you guys.” Lis smiles toher. “We love you too, Em. Now lets get you to bed.” She pats thetaller Elezen on the hand. Dryst nods his agreement. “Bed, yes…”

Lis and Dryst step out of the bath,both taking one of Em’s arms and helping her out. They all dry off,slip into light clothing and move the tall Elezen into the bedroom.Em sees the bed and flops into it all laughs and giggles as she takesthe other two with her. She drapes her arm across Dryst and Liscuddling them both before she passes out. The pair look up to Em thento each other lift a shoulder before resting their heads on hershoulders, wrapping an arm around her and falling a sleep themselves.

#asks #drystanaislinn #fillees

2 notes · View notes